Emendata

The Fourth of July 1845 Thoreau declares symbolically his independence from society and heads to the woods with a project clear in mind: to live close to nature, according to the “essential facts of life” and to explore the concept of self-reliance.

He realizes that what people call “advance” is actually a liability to true happiness; superfluous inventions and the rat race makes people become nothing but working machines engrossed in minor factitious distractions.

“The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it” said Thoreau, who did not waste his lifetime, since he followed a simple lifestyle which made him economically independent.

Some critics have indicated that Thoreau was not very self-sufficient since he settled on other’s man land and took a lot of help from others, however he never said anything about rejecting help or society, this escape was just a personal experiment, free of promises or obligations.

The experience was a great success, he made his living “by working about six weeks in a year” which gave him free time to educate himself and enjoy life.