The exact words
Why Thoreau went to Walden
Walden’s second chapter, “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For,” is where Thoreau finally states his purpose plainly. After describing the cabin and the pond, he writes: “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.”
The sentences that follow are just as famous. “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.” If life turned out to be mean, he wanted to know its meanness for certain; if it turned out to be sublime, he wanted to know that by experience.
What “deliberately” means
For Thoreau, most people live by default, following habits, expectations and the endless demands of work and possessions. Living deliberately means choosing every part of life on purpose and cutting away what does not matter, so that what is left is real. A few pages later he puts it in two words: “Simplify, simplify.”
It is worth remembering what the experiment actually was. Thoreau’s cabin was on land owned by his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson, about a mile and a half from Concord, and he walked into town regularly and had plenty of visitors. He stayed two years and then left, saying he had several more lives to live. The woods were a tool, not a permanent escape.
How to use it
The passage is one of the best readings for a graduation, and the “marrow of life” line is a moving tribute at a memorial for someone who lived fully. Many people know it from Dead Poets Society, in which students read it aloud to open their meetings, which helps it land with audiences of all ages.
What people get wrong
A call to abandon society and live in nature.
Thoreau's cabin was a mile and a half from town and he left after two years. The point was to live with intention, not to escape people.
Timeline
- July 4, 1845Thoreau begins living in his cabin by Walden Pond.
- 1847He leaves the pond to return to town.
- 1854Walden is published. The passage appears in the second chapter, “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For.”
- 1989In Dead Poets Society, students open their secret meetings by reading from this passage.
Use it in a speech
Questions people ask
What does “live deliberately” mean?
To live on purpose: to choose how to spend your life instead of drifting through habits and obligations, and to focus on what really matters.
What is the full quote?
“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.”
Where does “suck out all the marrow of life” come from?
From the same passage: “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.”
Cite this quote
These cite the original source directly, so you can use them in an essay or paper. Always check your teacher's required style.