(Richard Smith interpreting Henry David Thoreau. Photo credit:Alan Rohwer)
With both Richard Smith (in the guise of his alter-ego, Thoreau) and Thomas Blandings (Former President of the Thoreau Society), the Thoreau Farm was abuzz with discussions about Civil Disobedience.
The conversation was launched from Henry's writings, the first publication of the essay in The Aesthetic Papers in 1849, a single volume journal published by Elizabeth Peabody.
This original (first publication) was entitled "Resistance to Civil Government".
(The highlights below are based on my personal notes)
References to his best quotes/paraphrases & concepts:
Government is best which governs least.
Not "No Government" but "Better Government"
Ideals are not to be realized, but I must advance towards them-age 26
(HDT treated "Reality" as a verb, more than a noun)
His effort to see the big in the little (from his last walk with Ellery Channing)
His advice to a young writer: "Write with fury & edit with phlegm!"
On being imprisoned, "They treated me as mere flesh & bone"
His Actual Night in Jail
In 1846, he came to town from Walden, to pick up shoes that needed repair.
(And ended up being in jail with only one shoe!)
Sam Staples, an old friend, and future surveying assistant was the tax collector.
Told Henry that he hadn't paid tax for 6 years, and that he'd loan him the money.
Otherwise, he'd have to go to jail.
Henry reportedly said "Now is as good a time as any,"
The jail itself was substantial, built 1790, Concord was the county seat (which included Cambridge).
His prison roommate had burned down a barn and spent a considerable amount of time in jail afterwards. (Note that years earlier Henry had inadvertently burned down a forest near Walden, but was never punished for it)
The below exchange never happened,
it is actually from the Broadway play, "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail"
Emerson: "What are you doing in there, Henry?"
HDT: "What are you doing out there, Waldo?"
HDT was a philosopher of balance.
"Actual/Natural World" i.e. the world we bump our head against
"Real World" i.e. the Spiritual World
He took few notes in the field, would write up his field notes the next morning. (Speaks to his powers of observation, memory & goal of synthesizing all the elements of a walk)
HDT influenced & was cited by others
MLK, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Martin Buber, Tolystoy, etc
It was pointed out that Gandhi was already on a similar path, based on his Hindu beliefs of Satyagraha (nonviolence) & that HDT's writings served to reaffirm them.
Some tantalizing questions which came up during the discussions included:
What happened to the fugitive slaves that HDT and others helped along the Underground Railroad?
>>He and other helpers never learned the names of anyone they helped, so if they were questioned, they would honestly have no names to offer.
Did Hitler's attempted assassin (an actual person) have moral right on his side? And would others be given permission to kill, if it is better for society? (i.e. a rabid dog, or D. T Rump?)
>>Are there other options? HDT argued that you should reject any
The conversation was launched from Henry's writings, the first publication of the essay in The Aesthetic Papers in 1849, a single volume journal published by Elizabeth Peabody.
This original (first publication) was entitled "Resistance to Civil Government".
(The highlights below are based on my personal notes)
References to his best quotes/paraphrases & concepts:
Government is best which governs least.
Not "No Government" but "Better Government"
Ideals are not to be realized, but I must advance towards them-age 26
(HDT treated "Reality" as a verb, more than a noun)
His effort to see the big in the little (from his last walk with Ellery Channing)
His advice to a young writer: "Write with fury & edit with phlegm!"
On being imprisoned, "They treated me as mere flesh & bone"
His Actual Night in Jail
In 1846, he came to town from Walden, to pick up shoes that needed repair.
(And ended up being in jail with only one shoe!)
Sam Staples, an old friend, and future surveying assistant was the tax collector.
Told Henry that he hadn't paid tax for 6 years, and that he'd loan him the money.
Otherwise, he'd have to go to jail.
Henry reportedly said "Now is as good a time as any,"
The jail itself was substantial, built 1790, Concord was the county seat (which included Cambridge).
His prison roommate had burned down a barn and spent a considerable amount of time in jail afterwards. (Note that years earlier Henry had inadvertently burned down a forest near Walden, but was never punished for it)
The below exchange never happened,
it is actually from the Broadway play, "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail"
Emerson: "What are you doing in there, Henry?"
HDT: "What are you doing out there, Waldo?"
HDT was a philosopher of balance.
"Actual/Natural World" i.e. the world we bump our head against
"Real World" i.e. the Spiritual World
He took few notes in the field, would write up his field notes the next morning. (Speaks to his powers of observation, memory & goal of synthesizing all the elements of a walk)
HDT influenced & was cited by others
MLK, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Martin Buber, Tolystoy, etc
It was pointed out that Gandhi was already on a similar path, based on his Hindu beliefs of Satyagraha (nonviolence) & that HDT's writings served to reaffirm them.
Some tantalizing questions which came up during the discussions included:
What happened to the fugitive slaves that HDT and others helped along the Underground Railroad?
>>He and other helpers never learned the names of anyone they helped, so if they were questioned, they would honestly have no names to offer.
Did Hitler's attempted assassin (an actual person) have moral right on his side? And would others be given permission to kill, if it is better for society? (i.e. a rabid dog, or D. T Rump?)
>>Are there other options? HDT argued that you should reject any
