--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Thoreau could speculate that even a…" description: "\"“Thoreau could speculate that even a slight shift in natural processes—a little colder winter, a little higher flood—might put an end to humanity, so d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21e/laura-dassow-walls-185753_civil-disobedience_thoreau-could-speculate-that-even-a-slig_2042649.jpg" --- # Thoreau could speculate that even a slight shift in… ![“Thoreau could speculate that even a slight shift in natural processes—a little colder winter, a little higher flood—might put an end to humanity, so dependent are we on a wild nature that gives us no guarantees. Hence he emphasized living "deliberately"; that is, living so as to perceive and weigh…” quote by Laura Dassow Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21e/laura-dassow-walls-185753_civil-disobedience_thoreau-could-speculate-that-even-a-slig_2042649.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21e/laura-dassow-walls-185753_civil-disobedience_thoreau-could-speculate-that-even-a-slig_2042649.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21e/laura-dassow-walls-185753_civil-disobedience_thoreau-could-speculate-that-even-a-slig_2042649.jpg) > ““Thoreau could speculate that even a slight shift in natural processes—a little colder winter, a little higher flood—might put an end to humanity, so dependent are we on a wild nature that gives us no guarantees. Hence he emphasized living "deliberately"; that is, living so as to perceive and weigh the moral consequence of our choices. "Civil Disobedience" insists that the choices we make create our environment, both political and natural—all the choices, even the least and most seemingly trivial. The sum of those choices is weighed on the scales of the planet itself, a planet that is, like Walden Pond, sensitive and alive, quick to measure the least change and register it in sound and form. To Thoreau this was cause for tremendous optimism: as the village expanded and the old trees fell, he planted new ones and reveled in the young forest. If the English settlers had wiped out many of New England's animals—beaver, wolf, bear and cougar, moose and deer, wild turkey—still there was much remaining, enough to assure him the wild was everywhere, ready to reseed and reclaim what it had lost. His last, unfinished works, Wild Fruits and The Dispersion of Seeds, emphasize how the smallest of seeds, let loose on the winds or carried by the least of beings, could transform the world. All humans need to do is learn to work with instead of against the vital currents of life. The Books Thoreau didn't live to finish are about building a community of life, and he died in the faith his words, like seeds, would take root and grow. Exactly insofar as we, today, share his belief in the future of life and act on it, will he continue to speak to us.”” [Laura Dassow Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-dassow-walls/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Thoreau emphasizes deliberate living, recognizing that even tiny actions shape the planet and future, urging stewardship of nature. **In simple terms:** Deliberate actions shape the world. Key Takeaway Live intentionally with nature. Themes environment deliberate living responsibility optimism nature human impact Mood inspirational thoughtful Type environmental philosophical motivational When to use this quote - climate activism - gardening - urban planning - personal lifestyle Key Concepts stewardship interconnectedness Questions to Reflect On - How can daily choices affect the planet? - What does deliberate living mean to you? A Different Perspective Small actions may feel insignificant. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-thoreau-3810027/) [Civil disobedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-disobedience/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoreau/) [Thoreau Cause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoreau-cause-3810026/) [Thoreau Didn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoreau-didn-3810028/) [Thoreau Speculate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoreau-speculate-3810025/) [Unfinished work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unfinished-work/) [Walden pond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walden-pond/) ## Related quotes > [The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man's abode.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-setting-sun-is-reflected-from-the-windows-of-the-alms-house-as/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-single-gentle-rain-makes-the-grass-many-shades-greener/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [ “\[Thoreau's\] famous night in jail took place about halfway through his stay in the cabin on Emerson's woodlot at Walden Pond. His two-year stint… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/thoreau-s-famous-night-in-jail-took-place-about-halfway-through-his/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“The white woman across the aisle from me says 'Look, look at all the history, that house on the hill there is over two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/the-white-woman-across-the-aisle-from-me-says-look-look-at-all-the/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/it-is-remarkable-how-easily-and-insensibly-we-fall-into-a-particular/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“What I have observed of the pond is no less true in ethics. ... Such a rule ... draws lines through the length and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thoreau/what-i-have-observed-of-the-pond-is-no-less-true-in-ethics-such-a/) [Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thoreau/) > [A field of water betrays the spirit that is in the air. It is continually receiving new life and motion from above. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-field-of-water-betrays-the-spirit-that-is-in-the-air-it-is/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-went-to-the-woods-because-i-wished-to-live-deliberately/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-learned-this-at-least-by-my-experiment-that-if-one-advances-3/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I have hardly begun to live on Staten Island yet; but, like the man who, when forbidden to tread on English ground, carried Scottish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-have-hardly-begun-to-live-on-staten-island-yet-but-like-the-man-who/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Many have believed that Walden reached quite through to the other side of the globe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/many-have-believed-that-walden-reached-quite-through-to-the-other/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-i-wrote-the-following-pages-or-rather-the-bulk-of-them-i-lived/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“I felt my own self-sufficiency, my own Walden Pond, seeping out of me as if I'd sprung a leak. Self soaked into everything around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-sudjic/i-felt-my-own-self-sufficiency-my-own-walden-pond-seeping-out-of-me/) [Olivia Sudjic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-sudjic/) > [It happens from time to time in every complex and active society, that certain persons feel the complexity and insistence as a tangle, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/it-happens-from-time-to-time-in-every-complex-and-active-society-that/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [ \[He\] was always here to offer cups of good clear Walden Pond, or shout down the deep well of Shakespeare and listen, with satisfaction,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/he-was-always-here-to-offer-cups-of-good-clear-walden-pond-or-shout/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) ## More Civil disobedience quotes > [ \[Putin\] is a bully. And bullies only understand when we punch them in the nose, but we need to do that economically. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ayotte/putin-is-a-bully-and-bullies-only-understand-when-we-punch-them-in/) [Kelly Ayotte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ayotte/) > [The world - and America - has been defined by people who haven't necessarily abided by the laws and the rules. Civil disobedience is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-kennedy/the-world-and-america-has-been-defined-by-people-who-haven-t/) [Rory Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-kennedy/) > [When you say 'no' and you get on the streets and you do an act of civil disobedience, it changes your psychology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-bradbrook/when-you-say-no-and-you-get-on-the-streets-and-you-do-an-act-of-civil/) [Gail Bradbrook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-bradbrook/) > [There is all the difference in the world between the criminal's avoiding the public eye and the civil disobedience's taking the law into his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/there-is-all-the-difference-in-the-world-between-the-criminal-s/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Racial discrimination in elections in Texas is no mere historical artifact. To the contrary, Texas has been found in violation of the Voting Rights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/racial-discrimination-in-elections-in-texas-is-no-mere-historical/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [My first civil disobedience arrest for social justice was in 1986 for protesting the SDI.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sheen/my-first-civil-disobedience-arrest-for-social-justice-was-in-1986-for/) [Martin Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sheen/) > [Even here in America, we felt the cool, refreshing breeze of freedom when Nelson Mandela took the seat of Presidency in his country where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/even-here-in-america-we-felt-the-cool-refreshing-breeze-of-freedom/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Civil disobedience is a stimulation for the fighters and a challenge to the opponent, in the present instance, authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/civil-disobedience-is-a-stimulation-for-the-fighters-and-a-challenge/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“The only word these corporations know is more,” wrote Chris Hedges, former correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, and the New York…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-marrs/the-only-word-these-corporations-know-is-more-wrote-chris-hedges/) [Jim Marrs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-marrs/) > [A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-wise-man-will-not-leave-the-right-to-the-mercy-of-chance-nor-wish/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/i-became-convinced-that-noncooperation-with-evil-is-as-much-a-moral/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [New concepts should be introduced by the power of imagery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coop/new-concepts-should-be-introduced-by-the-power-of-imagery/) [Douglas Coop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coop/) > [Civil disobedience can help to focus attention on a particular injustice. It was used historically to highlight wrongs in society - turning ancient redwood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-brune/civil-disobedience-can-help-to-focus-attention-on-a-particular/) [Michael Brune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-brune/) > [I see a lot of individual action when it comes to environmental questions really as a form of politics as a way of communicating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/i-see-a-lot-of-individual-action-when-it-comes-to-environmental/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [“Our legislators have not yet learned the comparative value of free-trade and of freedom, of union, and of rectitude, to a nation. They have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-legislators-have-not-yet-learned-the-comparative-value-of-free/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Browse all 248 Civil disobedience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-disobedience/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Thoreau could speculate that even a slight shift in natural processes—a little colder winter, a little higher flood—might put an end to humanity, so dependent are we on a wild nature that gives us no guarantees. Hence he emphasized living \"deliberately\"; that is, living so as to perceive and weigh the moral consequence of our choices. \"Civil Disobedience\" insists that the choices we make create our environment, both political and natural—all the choices, even the least and most seemingly trivial. The sum of those choices is weighed on the scales of the planet itself, a planet that is, like Walden Pond, sensitive and alive, quick to measure the least change and register it in sound and form. To Thoreau this was cause for tremendous optimism: as the village expanded and the old trees fell, he planted new ones and reveled in the young forest. If the English settlers had wiped out many of New England's animals—beaver, wolf, bear and cougar, moose and deer, wild turkey—still there was much remaining, enough to assure him the wild was everywhere, ready to reseed and reclaim what it had lost. His last, unfinished works, Wild Fruits and The Dispersion of Seeds, emphasize how the smallest of seeds, let loose on the winds or carried by the least of beings, could transform the world. All humans need to do is learn to work with instead of against the vital currents of life. 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