“The angle intersections inscribed by our daily experiences, the coves and inlets of our lives, will ground the decisions we make, our actions in the world. And the sum total of all our moral actions combined will constitute the ethical character of the society we build together.”
Hopping back and forth between Thoreau’s (excellent) biography and his journals is an education not just in the life of a decidedly quirky man, but also the rapid and disturbing settlement of the country. When he first discovered the pond it was wild and largely isolated; by the time he built his cabin, the train was passing by and there were settlements left behind by the Irish workers who built worked on the railroads. Surprisingly though, despite his deep connection with nature (rumor had it he befriended crows and squirrels and could summon a woodchuck by whistling), he was not opposed to development if it furthered the human condition.
Kate Staples 