The Good Life
Thoreau's book about the austere but happy life as Walden Pond propagated
his fame around the world. He built a small hut and began living an 
ascetic existence. He found it to be a felicitous experience. In this idyllic
setting he was able to spend his time reading, studying nature, writing and
thinking. Far from being indolent, he kept busy in may ways. At the end of the
experiment he recalled the halcyon days with pleasure. He believed he had 
learned the secret of the truly happy life. The only tenable way of life is one
in harmony with nature;material possession are superfluous.


off the beaten track--not usual, out of the ordinary.
Because his ideas were always off the beaten track, he lived under a 
sword of Damocles on his job.