Editing Henry David Thoreau (section)

===Nature and human existence===
{{blockquote|Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.| Thoreau<ref>''Walden, or Life in the Woods'' (Chapter 1: "Economy")</ref>}}

Thoreau was an early advocate of recreational hiking and [[canoeing]], of conserving natural resources on private land, and of preserving wilderness as public land. He was a highly skilled canoeist; [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]], after a ride with him, noted that "Mr. Thoreau managed the boat so perfectly, either with two paddles or with one, that it seemed instinct with his own will, and to require no physical effort to guide it."<ref>Nathaniel Hawthorne, Passages From the American Note-Books, entry for September 2, 1842.</ref>

He was not a strict vegetarian, though he said he preferred that diet<ref>Brooks, Van Wyck. ''The Flowering of New England''. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, Inc., 1952. p. 310</ref> and advocated it as a means of self-improvement. He wrote in ''Walden'', "The practical objection to animal food in my case was its uncleanness; and besides, when I had caught and cleaned and cooked and eaten my fish, they seemed not to have fed me essentially. It was insignificant and unnecessary, and cost more than it came to. A little bread or a few potatoes would have done as well, with less trouble and filth."<ref name="Cheever241">Cheever, Susan (2006). ''American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau; Their Lives, Their Loves, Their Work''. Detroit: Thorndike Press. Large print edition. p. 241. {{ISBN|0-7862-9521-X}}.</ref>

[[File:Thoreaus quote near his cabin site, Walden Pond.jpg|thumb|Thoreau's famous quotation, near his cabin site at Walden Pond]]
Thoreau neither rejected civilization nor fully embraced wilderness. Instead he sought a middle ground, the [[pastoral]] realm that integrates nature and culture. His philosophy required that he be a didactic arbitrator between the wilderness he based so much on and the spreading mass of humanity in North America. He decried the latter endlessly but felt that a teacher needs to be close to those who needed to hear what he wanted to tell them. The wildness he enjoyed was the nearby swamp or forest, and he preferred "partially cultivated country". His idea of being "far in the recesses of the wilderness" of Maine was to "travel the logger's path and the Indian trail", but he also hiked on pristine land.

In an essay titled, "Henry David Thoreau, Philosopher", [[environmental history|environmental historian]] [[Roderick Nash]] wrote, "Thoreau left Concord in 1846 for the first of three trips to northern Maine. His expectations were high because he hoped to find genuine, primeval America. But contact with real wilderness in Maine affected him far differently than had the idea of wilderness in Concord. Instead of coming out of the woods with a deepened appreciation of the wilds, Thoreau felt a greater respect for civilization and realized the necessity of balance."<ref>Nash, Roderick. ''Wilderness and the American Mind: Henry David Thoreau: Philosopher''.</ref>

Of alcohol, Thoreau wrote, "I would fain keep sober always. ... I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man; wine is not so noble a liquor. ... Of all ebriosity, who does not prefer to be intoxicated by the air he breathes?"<ref name="Cheever241" />