Henry David Thoreau decided at a relatively young age .

             to use his life as an experiment in "self-education". His optimistic .

             views on life and his goal-oriented lifestyle is reflected in his .

             writing. In "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For", Thoreau writes .

             about his appreciation for his tattered little abode, which was only .

             a defense against the outer environmental elements. Though the wind .

             blows through the house, he hears it as though it were a song from .

             the "gods" on Olympus. He recognizes his misfortunes, and is content .

             with the way things are. In a lot of ways, Thoreau reminds me of how .

             I wish I could be, and how Ralph Waldo Emerson encourages the entire .

             human race to be. Thoreau focused his life around only the essential .

             things, and lived as though life was a reflection of an inner .

             spiritual reality. Thoreau lived the way he did, in search of what it .

             truly is that men live for. Simplicity was his only necessity. It is .

             my understanding that throughout American history, our authors and .

             poets were typically philosophers who spent their lives in attempts .

             to better the lives of others by conquering that which affects us .

             negatively. Thoreau was such a man. "We do not ride on the railroad; .

             it rides upon us". It is in this statement that Thoreau portrays that .

             people as a society make decisions, and we can either decide to sit .

             and ponder the day away in attempts to make our lives better, or work .

             away our lives. But "if we do not get out leepers, and forge rails, .

             and devote days and nights to work, but go tinkering upon our lives .

             to improve them, who will build the railroads?" .

             .

             In conclusion, it is my understanding from researching Henry .

             David Thoreau and many other American writers of his time that he was .

             much like the rest; he was the "self-reliant nonconformist that .

             Emerson urged all people to be". He secluded himself in order .