"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." -- "Economy," Walden

"Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?" --"Civil Disobedience"

Henry David Thoreau reflects on life, politics, and society in these two inspiring masterworks: Walden and "Civil Disobedience." In 1845, Thoreau moved to a cabin that he built with his own hands along the shores of Walden Pond in Massachusetts. Shedding the trivial ties that he felt bound much of humanity, Thoreau drew both physical and mental inspiration from the land, and he pursued truth in the quiet of nature. In Walden, he explains how separating oneself from the world of men can fully awaken the sleeping self. Thoreau holds fast to the notion that you have not truly existed until you adopt such a lifestyle--and only then can you reenter society as an enlightened being. These simple but profound musings--as well as "Civil Disobedience," his protest of the government's interference with civil liberty--have inspired many to embrace his philosophy of individualism and his love of nature. More than a century and a half later, his message is timelier than ever.