Walden or, Life in the Woods
Thoreau went to the woods, wrote about it, and gave every subsequent generation its template for opting out.
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life.”
Why It Matters
Thoreau went to the woods, wrote about it, and gave every subsequent generation its template for opting out. The book's influence on civil disobedience, environmentalism, and simple-living movements is direct — Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. both cited Thoreau. Whether you find it inspiring or self-righteous, you cannot ignore it.
The 
Take
Personal reviewI just love the literary style of the Transcendentalists. At times, the actual story of his time at Walden can feel meandering and unimportant, but the constant melding of nature and spirituality into literary flourishes puts it over the top for me.Also makes me want to go to a national park
Notable Quotes
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.”