Henry David Thoreau Quote Analysis

I chose this quote because of the meaning behind it and the truth to it. When Thoreau says this he is backing up his stance that a man should put his conscience first and follow his own path above anything else. Suppose you have a lily that you want to plant and grow. Lilies should be kept in full and ample sunlight, be watered freely during the spring and summer months, and be trimmed occasionally. If you don’t water the flower, keep it in the dark, or don’t take care of it, it will die. If the lily is not able to grow based on how it is supposed to grow because someone is restricting it, then it will die. Thoreau compares this to people. He believes that if people allow themselves to be restricted by government, or rules that they disagree with, they will die.

However, to me most of them hold little to no value. They have all been said before, and they all use common, meaningless words. They aren’t thought provoking. When I read a quote I want to have to think about what it means; which is exactly what Thoreau’s quote does. Added to this, the quote has a personal meaning to me. For most if not all of my childhood life I spent the majority of my time trying to be like other people. Especially with other girls I was friends with. I would like something they did or wore, and I would do exactly that without any question. Over time, I didn’t really know who I was. I knew my values and my morals that I wanted to stick to, but if someone asked me what my favorite food was, I couldn’t tell you. I would sit there racking my brain thinking of what someone ELSE’S favorite food was because I wanted to be like them. Take it from me, Thoreau is right. Living as someone else isn’t living at all. However, now I can tell you my favorite food is spaghetti. I could eat it every day of my life. When I came across this quote I promised to live by who I am no matter what. This is why I love the meaning and thought behind this quote, and also