Quiet Desperation

The Saying: THE MASS OF MEN LEAD LIVES OF QUIET DESPERATION.
Who Said It: Henry David Thoreau
When: 1854
The Story behind It: American philosopher and naturalist Thoreau isolated himself at Walden Pond in Massachusetts from 1845 to 1847. His experiences during that time were published in Walden (1854), which Thornton Wilder called "a manual of self-reliance." In a well-known passage, Thoreau stated his purpose: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation..." In the first essay, "Economy," Thoreau comments that most men are slaves to their work and enslaved to those for whom they work. He concludes: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation...."

Letting the Song Out

Henry David Thoreau said that "most men lead lives of quiet desperation"...I read that in my youth and vowed it would not happen to me. But it did and I ended up destroying my life. Today I have a chance to reclaim myself before it is too late...Because there is still time to reverse the second part, "...and go to the grave with the song still in them". Today, I take another step in the direction of my dreams. Today, I am not imprisoned by man, money or material.