Henry David Thoreau
(1817-1862)

birthdate: July 12
birthplace:
Concord, Massachusetts

Henry David Thoreau is considered one of America's earliest environmentalists. As the author of more than 20 books, he spoke out on many social issues such as peace, living simply, abolishing slavery and civil resistance, in addition to ecological concerns.

Henry David Thoreau's philosophy of nature and its relation to the human condition was inspired by his friend and mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The inspiration for Thoreau's most famous work, Walden, was a two year experiment of living alone in the woods around the shore of Walden Pond in a house he built himself on land owned by Emerson. The book was not very successful at the time, but today it is regarded as a classic. Walden portrays the path to learning our true nature by simplying one's life and living closely with and observing nature, away from society's day-to-day material distractions. It shows how beauty, harmony and simplicity are the cornerstones for a more peaceful, just and sustainable society.

Thoreau's other famous work, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, was inspired after he was jailed in 1846 for refusing to pay his taxes as a protest against slavery in America and the Mexican-American War. This work influenced the lives of many others throughout history, including Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy.

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