Thoughts on "Deep Thinkers" in Retrospect

1. I feel as if I am sticking my neck out, but, life is a gamble at times. Thoreau states: “A man, any man, will go considerably out of his way to pick up a silver dollar; but here are golden words, which the wisest men of antiquity have uttered, and whose worth the wise of every succeeding age have assured us of; - and yet we learn to read only as far as Easy Reading, the primers and class-books, and when we leave school, the Little Reading and story books which are for boys and beginners; and our reading, our conversation and thinking, are all on a very low level, worthy of pygmies and manikans (sp). I aspire to be acquainted with wiser men than this, our Concord soil has produced. (I must remember that he was a transcendentalist and they were accustomed to the frequent use of their thumbs and noses.) Thoreau had his right to his own opinion. There may have been great literature in the past that came from great minds of great and important thinkers in their day, (I wouldn’t know; I have never read any of his favorites. I was one who left off reading much of anything as I entered junior high on through high school. It wasn’t until after I went to college that I “woke” up to reading, writing, learning, thinking, and in general the world of higher learning, etc.) Nevertheless, it seems more than a little conceited and ego-centric to make the kinds of statements he was wont to do in Walden, on any of his chosen topics. It is as if his experience and thoughts make his “knowledge/experience” the only good and true sentiments there are regarding anything he chose to write about in Walden. (Again, I keep forgetting that the universe revolved around him and others like him.) He, in my opinion, was wrong about the veracity and worth of the thinking and writing of any “that Concord has produced.” This is only one instance I believe he is wrong because the “founding fathers” were also great thinkers/writers; at least some of them. To compare them, though with earlier, ancient writers/thinkers, though, I cannot because I have no experience. But from what I’ve read, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Monroe were widely read, and deep thinkers. I suppose one could call them students also of the great ancients. Granted, many of his contemporaries borrowed ideas and thoughts to form their own opinions too, but those early writings also had their beginnings elsewhere and not alone in the minds and hearts of their authors. There were many who preceded him in this life, having had their roots and lives in and around Concord and environs who were indeed very deep thinkers and writers, with as much talent as any, I assume, from the recent or ancient past. I know that I am not in possession of all that I should be in the way of information and experience to really intelligently give my opinion, so...including the castigation I have given him. John Adams, among others, not to mention his son, John Quincy, were of the talent, ability, and intellect that he so touts in his “ancient” thinkers. It was to these new-age intellectual giants that the mission on earth was given to establish a nation, under God, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with rights....life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Show me any of the ancient intellectuals that was ever an equal to the Sons of the Revolution, the Patriots, and had the talent, courage, and tenacity to see it through to the end. They were saved for this time to come forth and achieve what they did. The ancients also had their day and did their part. If he wants to hang with his ancient friends and their so-called talent and wisdom, so be it. It was the more recent talent in men that gave Thoreau and others the freedom to live in this land, and choose as they might. The world passed him by, and apparently unnoticed, as he could only see or want himself to be associated with those “who were wiser...than this, our Concord soil has produced.” But, maybe that's not fair and maybe that's not what he meant at all.