Walden

I picked up Henry David Thoreau's "Walden" sometime last year. At that time, Thoreau's name was a distant memory from a quote that I had read as a teenager. I don't know yet, what drew me to that book in a shop covered with books. Life's miracles? 

It is not a book to be read at one go, or cover to cover. But a book with words to cherish, laugh with and find company in. The insights, profound sarcasm, and ideas of simplicity draw me more and more. The deeper I reflect on our society and ways of living, the lesser I want to have, hold on to. And in Thoreau, I find a voice closest to my heart. 

I am yet to figure out where these paths of reflection will lead, at the moment, I am enjoying the lines, " I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts"

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