It is the unflagging beauty of the writing, day after day, that confirms [Thoreau’s Journals] greatness among writers’ journals. ~ Alfred Kazin

 

I have posted here before that I read and reread Thoreau’s journals the same way I read and reread W.B. Yeats and a few other poets For grounding..

Thoreau’s Journals read like prose poetry. It is what makes his Journals for me, my favorite of all his writings. At 47 manuscript volumes and seven million words, his journals are one of the great literary works of the Western world. They would be a daunting undertaking if it were not for the number of redacted editions that are available in the public domain.

.Here are some great excerpts from his Journals for this January day.

Enjoy!

 

A few quotes from Thoreau’s Journals

 

Oct. 24. Every part of nature teaches that the passing away of one life is the making room for another. The oak dies down to the ground, leaving within its rind a rich virgin mould, which will impart a vigorous life to an infant forest. The pine leaves a sandy and sterile soil, the harder woods a strong and fruitful mould. So this constant abrasion and decay makes the soil of my future growth. As I live now so shall I reap. If I grow pines and birches, my virgin mould will not sustain the oak; but pines and birches, or, perchance, weeds and brambles, will constitute my second growth. 

 

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March 5. But what does all this scribbling amount to? What is now scribbled in the heat of the moment one can contemplate with somewhat of satisfaction, but alas! to-morrow— aye, to-night— it is stale, flat, and unprofitable,— in fine, is not, only its shell remains, like some red parboiled lobster-shell which, kicked aside never so often, still stares at you in the path. 

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March 7. We should not endeavor coolly to analyze our thoughts, but, keeping the pen even and parallel with the current, make an accurate transcript of them. Impulse is, after all, the best linguist, and for his logic, if not conformable to Aristotle, it cannot fail to be most convincing. The nearer we approach to a complete but simple transcript of our thought the more tolerable will be the piece, for we can endure to consider ourselves in a state of passivity or in involuntary action, but rarely our efforts, and least of all our rare efforts.