Thoreau's
Declaration of Independence: "Walden gives us pause to think on the true meaning of human freedom and American independence. Thoreau's spiritual message of nonconformity is a challenge we all should aspire toward. He went to Walden Pond not to escape, but to encounter, the problem of reductionist modernity. He is no mere naturalist or environmentalist. Thoreau recognized that though man lives in nature, he has a supernatural end transcending nature and the world. He would have been critical of modern day environmentalists who 'no longer camp for a night, but have camped down on earth and forgotten heaven.' "
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Yep, Thoreau really knew what human freedom and American independence are: living at the expense of someone else. In this case it was at the expense of his "friend" Ralph Waldo Emerson. Hence, he became the father of all those who refuse to get real, productive jobs, but want to indulge their primeval scream at someone else's expense. Long live the loon that cries over Waldon Pond!

He isn't the first one who made a "Declaration of Independence" for the human soul. Seems like someone said it first in the Garden of Eden, "Ye shall be as gods...."

You don't save your soul by abandoning the world and living in idle sloth. You save it by working out your salvation with fear and trembling.