‘A Thoreau understanding’

     
Born on this date in 1817 was Henry David Thoreau—philosopher, poet, abolitionist and, most importantly, tax resister.

(Do click this Christian Science Monitor link to see ten quotations in celebration of his birth.)
     
Speaking of whom: More great programming at the School of Practical Philosophy. From the publicity:

The American Transcendentalists:

Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman

Saturdays, starting September 27

(additional dates TBA)

10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

with Barbara Solowey

School of Practical Philosophy

12 East 79th Street

Manhattan

Join in an exploration of the spiritual and intellectual legacy of Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman, America’s greatest visionaries who can inspire our own work toward self-realization. The Transcendentalists are revolutionary and reflective, and their call is to spiritual insight and universal consciousness. Their writings proclaim and celebrate the need for self-reliance, and a love of freedom and brotherhood—each essential for humanity.

“It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he, who in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”

          Emerson

Self-Reliance

Click here to register.