--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Henry David Thoreau is very…" description: "\"Henry David Thoreau is very independent-minded, very iconoclastic, and had quite a corrosive sense of humor. I think that I probably have grown up to h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/joyce-carol-oates-344_approved_henry-david-thoreau-is-very-independent_2512761.png" --- # Henry David Thoreau is very independent-minded, very… ![“Henry David Thoreau is very independent-minded, very iconoclastic, and had quite a corrosive sense of humor. I think that I probably have grown up to have a Thoreauvian perspective on many things. Though in other ways I live a life he would not have approved of. He believed to simplify, simplify…” quote by Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/joyce-carol-oates-344_approved_henry-david-thoreau-is-very-independent_2512761.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/joyce-carol-oates-344_approved_henry-david-thoreau-is-very-independent_2512761.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/joyce-carol-oates-344_approved_henry-david-thoreau-is-very-independent_2512761.png) > “Henry David Thoreau is very independent-minded, very iconoclastic, and had quite a corrosive sense of humor. I think that I probably have grown up to have a Thoreauvian perspective on many things. Though in other ways I live a life he would not have approved of. He believed to simplify, simplify, simplify. Make your life very clear and plain and meditative and not confused. Sometimes my life, in fact, is confused.” [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Thoreau advocated extreme simplicity and clarity, but the speaker admits to a more complex, sometimes contradictory life. **In simple terms:** Thoreau valued simplicity; the speaker struggles with it. Key Takeaway Embrace simplicity while accepting life's messiness. Themes simplicity contradiction humor Mood reflective philosophical Type introspective literary When to use this quote - daily routines - creative work - personal reflection Key Concepts philosophy personal growth literature Questions to Reflect On - How can you simplify without losing richness? - What parts of your life resist simplification? A Different Perspective Simplicity may be unrealistic for modern life. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) [Sense of humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-of-humor/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I like the story about Henry David Thoreau, who, when he was on his death bed, his family sent for a minister. The minister…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/i-like-the-story-about-henry-david-thoreau-who-when-he-was-on-his/) [Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/) > [“Whenever I read anything by Henry David Thoreau I honestly feel as though he’s with me. No. More like I am with him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-trandahl/whenever-i-read-anything-by-henry-david-thoreau-i-honestly-feel-as/) [Nicholas Trandahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-trandahl/) > [“Even Henry David Thoreau, not known for kvetching, wrote in The Maine Woods that he was “seriously molested” by bugs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-finkel/even-henry-david-thoreau-not-known-for-kvetching-wrote-in-the-maine/) [Michael Finkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-finkel/) > [“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify! Simplify! 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If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think of what it might be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/running-if-there-s-any-activity-happier-more-exhilarating-more/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [You need so much energy and encouragement to write that if someone says something negative, some of that energy goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/you-need-so-much-energy-and-encouragement-to-write-that-if-someone/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I learned long ago that being Lewis Carroll was infinitely more exciting than being Alice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-learned-long-ago-that-being-lewis-carroll-was-infinitely-more/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Paradox: how do we know what we have failed to see because we have no language to express it, thus we cannot know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/paradox-how-do-we-know-what-we-have-failed-to-see-because-we-have-no/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [At all crucial moments in our lives we want to speak without knowing what to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/at-all-crucial-moments-in-our-lives-we-want-to-speak-without-knowing/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [A writer’s life is in his work, and that is the place to find him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/a-writer-s-life-is-in-his-work-and-that-is-the-place-to-find-him/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [The challenge is to resist circumstances. 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For us all?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/did-you-know-marianne-how-by-breaking-the-code-that-day-you-broke-it/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > ['The Accursed' is very much a novel about social injustice as the consequence of the terrible, tragic division of classes - the exploitation not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-accursed-is-very-much-a-novel-about-social-injustice-as-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Keep a light, hopeful heart. But expect the worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/keep-a-light-hopeful-heart-but-expect-the-worst/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo - that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/and-this-is-the-forbidden-truth-the-unspeakable-taboo-that-evil-is/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I don't think that writer's block exists really. I think that when you're trying to do something prematurely, it just won't come. 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