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January 29, 1852:
"In my experience I have found nothing so truly impoverishing as what is called wealth, i. e. the command of greater means than you had before possessed, though comparatively few and slight still, for you thus inevitably acquire a more expensive habit of living, and even the very same necessaries and comforts cost you more than they once did.
Instead of gaining, you have lost some independence, and if your income should be suddenly lessened, you would find yourself poor, though possessed of the same means which once made you rich. Within the last five years I have had the command of a little more money than in the previous five years, for I have sold some books and some lectures; yet I have not been a whit better fed or clothed or warmed or sheltered, not a whit richer, except that I have been less concerned about my living, but perhaps my life has been the less serious for it, and to balance it, I feel now that there is a possibility of failure." - The Diary of Henry David Thoreau
Title: Thoreau Statue
Flickr User
This statue of Henry David Thoreau, titled "Self Examination" stands in front of a replica of his one-room home at Walden Pond.
"In my experience I have found nothing so truly impoverishing as what is called wealth, i. e. the command of greater means than you had before possessed, though comparatively few and slight still, for you thus inevitably acquire a more expensive habit of living, and even the very same necessaries and comforts cost you more than they once did.
Instead of gaining, you have lost some independence, and if your income should be suddenly lessened, you would find yourself poor, though possessed of the same means which once made you rich. Within the last five years I have had the command of a little more money than in the previous five years, for I have sold some books and some lectures; yet I have not been a whit better fed or clothed or warmed or sheltered, not a whit richer, except that I have been less concerned about my living, but perhaps my life has been the less serious for it, and to balance it, I feel now that there is a possibility of failure." - The Diary of Henry David Thoreau
Title: Thoreau Statue
Flickr User
This statue of Henry David Thoreau, titled "Self Examination" stands in front of a replica of his one-room home at Walden Pond.
