Primary sourceSpeech1851-1862
Walking
Henry David Thoreau · 1851-1862
Thoreau's philosophical essay on nature and wilderness, first delivered as a lecture in 1851 and published posthumously in 1862.
Thoreau's own essay and lecture, containing his influential statement on wildness and nature conservation.
About this source
What it is
This essay by Henry David Thoreau was first given as a lecture at the Concord Lyceum in 1851, drawing on journal entries dating back to 1837. Thoreau revised it over the following decade and delivered it more often than any other lecture. It was published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862, after his death.
Why it matters
"Walking" contains Thoreau's famous line "In Wildness is the preservation of the World," a statement that later became central to American ideas about wilderness conservation. The essay reflects Thoreau's belief that direct experience of nature, not just contemplation, was essential to understanding life, a view connected to but distinct from Emerson's philosophy of nature.
Look closer
- What does Thoreau mean by calling walking a form of resistance to society?
- Why might Thoreau have reworked this lecture so many times over a decade?
- How does this essay compare society's order with the freedom of wild nature?
This speech is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Henry David Thoreau on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.
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