Thoreau and intellectual dynamism
by Caroline“There is no odor so bad as that which arises from goodness tainted. It is human, it is divine, carrion.”
this line appears on page 328 of our Thoreau anthology. I am starting to love Thoreau more and more, easier once I started to take his writing more personally and wade into his journals. his earnestness in his journals strikes the starkest contrast with the jaded part of me, but it resonates unequivocally with my wondering side. he has the dynamism and love of the world that, in my mind, demonstrates true brilliance. I meet enough people who are intelligent within one area and have obvious mental horsepower, but this isn’t enough. to be truly brilliant requires intellectual dynamism and insatiable curiosity. Thoreau realizes how important it is to consume everything you can get your hands on, and it shines through in his prowess over so many different ideas — he transitions from natural science to astute social observation to beautiful, lucid descriptions of his surroundings, and at least in Walden, he is sometimes hilarious.
(i looked up “lucid” to make sure I could use it in that context, and loved the OED‘s definition: “Bright, shining, luminous, resplendent.”)
to circle back to my initial quote, though: these sentences begin my favorite passage from Walden so far. I’ve been marking it up pretty adamantly because his turns of phrase and thoughts are so compelling. anyway, in this part, Thoreau tears down our classical idea of philanthropy and goodness. simply helping someone out is not enough, he says:
“I can find you a Newfoundland dog that will do as much.”
I enjoy Thoreau’s dissatisfaction with people’s rote acceptance of society. parts of Walden start up a soundtrack in my mind, specifically the song “is that all there is?” by Peggy Lee. she starts out feeling underwhelmed by a housefire and the circus but ends up feeling the same way about love and her own inevitable death. it’s a pretty amazing song, though obviously kind of a downer. Peggy Lee seems to be a party existentialist: “if that’s all there is, my friend, then let’s keep dancing.”
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