Henry David Thoreau on his 200th birthday has invited us back to his woodsy, watery old town of Concord, Massachusetts where crystalline American prose was born and grew up. (PRX)
The Concord Circle and the Birth of American Philosophy
Nietzsche and Emerson
You cannot live on vegetable food solely
One farmer says to me, “You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make bones with;” and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying his system with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle. Thoreau, Walden
Democratize Enlightment
Let’s Do This Thing!
Nanci Griffith, “From a Distance” on Letterman, August 30, 1988
‘River Dave’ doesn’t think he can go back to being a hermit
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — An off-the-grid New Hampshire man’s days living as a hermit appear to be over. “River Dave,” whose cabin in the woods burned down after nearly three decades on property that he was ordered to leave, says he doesn’t think he can return to his lifestyle.
There is no better fence . . .
Study Shows That Bottled Water Is 3,500 Times More Harmful to the Environment Than Tap Water
If you needed another reason to ditch bottled water and turn on the tap, a new study shows that it’s 3,500 times more harmful for the environment than tap water. This number comes from assessing everything from extracting the raw materials (to make the bottles) to manufacturing, distribution, transport, usage, and disposal. The Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) focused on bottled water usage in Barcelona, Spain, and gives one more reason to stop relying on bottled water.
My Modern Met
Emerson, Thoreau, Gandhi, Lewis
“All of the participants on the ride had been taught the discipline and philosophy of nonviolence, but those of us who participated in the Nashville movement had benefited from gifted teachers—Rev. Jim Lawson, himself a conscientious objector in the Korean War who had traveled to India to walk in the footsteps of Gandhi, and Rev. Kelly Miller Smith, a learned and esteemed church leader in Nashville. They taught us the philosophy of Gandhi, Thoreau, Emerson, Plato, Aristotle, and others to illuminate the lineage of thinkers who believed in the inalienable rights of humankind. We had also participated in role playing that prepared us mentally and physically for this moment.”
John Lewis — Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change.
Dean’s List 