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Reading (Walden) (Ancient relics (Thoreau believes that written words are…
Reading (Walden)
Ancient relics
Thoreau believes that written words are like relics and ancient pieces of art which preserved life in the best way possible.
Books are the treasures of the world because they enlighten the reader which reflects on the Transcendentalist value of learning.
Thoreau mentions ancient Greek literature a lot such as literature because he believes that it has a lot to offer.
Thoerau explains how books such as the Iliad allow readers to reflect the sense of heroism upon themselves.
Those who do not read ancient books in their original written language will never fully understand the human race.
The pleasure of reading
Thoreau mentions that poet Mîr Camar Uddîn Mast compares reading to being drunk with knowledge which gives a person an elated feeling.
Thoreau felt disappointed that he was not able to read as much as he wanted due to his constant work on the bean farm.
To keep himself going, Thoreau kept his drive to work fueled by thinking about how much he could read in the future.
Losing value
Thoreau believes that heroic books tend to lose their value as society progresses since generations usually disagree on views and values.
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Ancient texts will end up being misinterpreted as time goes on because society loses the ability to translate properly.
People value a "cheap contemporary literature" rather than the classics and according to Thoreau these are things which should be really valued.
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Readers
Thoreau believes that educated people aren't always good readers because they don't choose books of merit and value to elevate the mind.
Learning to read on a basic level results in people having an inadvanced thinking which connects to the Transcendentalist tenet of self reliance. One must rely on themself to learn and think more than society teaches.
Second Birth
Thoreau believes that if we can learn to read where we really understand the message of the piece we can find pieces of ourselves in the book.
A person can experience a spiritual awakening from reading which reflects on the Transcendentalist ideal of spirtituality
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Modern advances
People like to believe that society is modern and advanced however in order to truly move forward people need to realize that they are not as advanced as they believe they are in order to truly proceed forward.