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Transcendentalism


            In the 1830s and 1840s, a style of writing emerged known as transcendentalism. This style of writing, or more specifically lifestyle, was based around the thinking that the individual is the world. Furthermore it proposed that "every soul and all of nature was part of an Over-Soul, a universal spirit to which all beings returned to after death" (Feldman 384). One of the most outspoken proponents of this style was an author named Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau had a profound effect on transcendentalism because he not only talked about it, but he also made the decision to do something and put these thoughts into action. In fact, Thoreau once said, "How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live". This is most shown in Thoreau's book Walden. In Walden, Thoreau writes about his experiences from when he lived near Walden Pond in Massachusetts. When Thoreau went to Walden, he went with this quote in mind; to do what he felt was best for his life no matter what other people thought. Through Thoreau's actions and words, one can see that Thoreau placed a clear emphasis on a lack of routine, simplicity, individuality, and non-conformity.
             When Thoreau went to Walden, he went with the clear intention of setting aside his life, and with that, routine. In fact, one of Thoreau's greatest missions was to set aside all routine. He felt that by making routine one wore out his life and would become quickly. What one has to realize is that as much as Thoreau despised routine in all of its forms, he found that in some ways routine is inevitable. He comes to this conclusion when he realized that he was consistently walking the same trail at his abode by Walden Pond. This was his revelation. He now appreciated that the body naturally falls into routine, and in some ways even thrives upon it. A quote regarding routine is this; "Habit and routine have an unbelievable power to waste and destroy.


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