Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862; born David Henry Thoreau) was an American author, development critic, naturalist, transcendentalist, pacifist, tax resister and philosopher who is famous for Walden, on simple living amongst nature, and Civil Disobedience, on resistance to civil government and many other articles and essays. He was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the Fugitive Slave Law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending the abolitionist John Brown. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism.

Life and work

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David Henry Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts, of John and Cynthia Thoreau. He was named after a recently deceased paternal Uncle, David Thoreau. He did not change his name to "Henry David" until he had graduated from Harvard, although he never petitioned the government to do so officially. He had two older siblings, Helen and John Jr., and a younger sister, Sophia. ^* Thoreau's birthplace still exists in a somewhat dilapidated state on Virginia Road in Concord. The house is original, but it was moved 50-100 yards away from the original site in the twentieth century.

Bronson Alcott notes in his journal that Thoreau pronounced his family name THOR-eau, accented on the first syllable, not the last as is common today. A Concord variant is THUR-eau, like the standard American pronunciation of the word "thorough." In appearance he was homely, with a nose that he called "my most prominent feature" (Cape Cod). Of his face, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote: "is as ugly as sin, long-nosed, queer-mouthed, and with uncouth and rustic, though courteous manners, corresponding very well with such an exterior. But his ugliness is of an honest and agreeable fashion, and becomes him much better than beauty." [http://eserver.org/thoreau/hawthornes.html

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Walking all over Santa Monica in 4 inch heels is not fun. Ouch!
CarrieCornish (Carrie Cornish) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:34:58 -0000
Walking all over Santa Monica in 4 inch heels is not fun. Ouch!
Walking around a college makes me feel old. =Ñ
abbieharlow (abbie) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:31:27 -0000
Walking around a college makes me feel old. =Ñ
Walking to hell with the roomies !
Brittknee129 (Brittany Maher) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:30:57 -0000
Walking to hell with the roomies !
Just saw Santa walking down Granville street. No one even waved! What if that's the real Santa. I waved just in case.
jasoncermak (Jason Cermak) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:30:37 -0000
Just saw Santa walking down Granville street. No one even waved! What if that's the real Santa. I waved just in case.
She was right you do think about a lot walking home
vs_2008 (Victoria Sierra) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:28:17 -0000
She was right you do think about a lot walking home
RT @Nia_Elizabeth: Oh lawd my baby walking around saying sh*t!!! #wherebabiesdothatat---Oh no!!!
bMYSTIQUE (B'Annca G) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:28:16 -0000
RT @Nia_Elizabeth: Oh lawd my baby walking around saying sh*t!!! #wherebabiesdothatat---Oh no!!!

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