scusses the reasons for being a nonconformist, the proper reasons for travel, and the needless reliance on property. In his essay A Nonconformist, he states, “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world.” In this statement Emerson resolves to say that those who conform to follow the institutions of life can not be able to listen to the intuition which lies inside them. In his essay Traveling he points out that those who travel to find themselves are really running from them. To find oneself all you need to do is look within. In Reliance on Property, Emerson goes back to the theory of simplicity in stating that one who depends of material things can not live with their independence and self-reliance. He states, “And so the reliance on Property, including the reliance on government which protects it, is the want of self-reliance.” Henry David Thoreau was one of Emerson’s protgs, but unlike Emerson, Thoreau acted on his beliefs instead of just writing them. He is known for only two literary works, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, and his more publicly renown work Walden. Going along with the beliefs of nonconformity and simplicity Thoreau set off to live in the woods near Walden Pond. He stayed there for over 2 years writing down in his journal the day’s events and how he connected with nature more and more as each day went by. Thoreau wanted to “suck the marrow out of life”, and live life to the best of his ability. After his two years were up he left the woods with the same reason for going to them; he did not want to conform to a set pattern of life. After coming out of the woods, Thoreau explained in one of his most famous essays, Civil Disobedience, how the individual has a stronger power when independent than that of the government. He states, “That government is best t...
