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1For more than five years I maintained myself thus solely by the labor of my hands, and I found, that by working about
2six weeks in a year, I could meet all the expenses of living. The whole of my winters, as well as most of my summers, I
3had free and clear for study. I have thoroughly tried school-keeping, and found that my expenses were in proportion, or
4rather out of proportion, to my income, for I was obliged to dress and train, not to say think and believe, accordingly,
5and I lost my time into the bargain. As I did not teach for the good of my fellow-men, but simply for a livelihood, this
6was a failure. I have tried trade; but I found that it would take ten years to get under way in that, and that then I
7should probably be on my way to the devil. I was actually afraid that I might by that time be doing what is called a
8good business. When formerly I was looking about to see what I could do for a living, some sad experience in conforming
9to the wishes of friends being fresh in my mind to tax my ingenuity, I thought often and seriously of picking
10huckleberries; that surely I could do, and its small profits might suffice,--for my greatest skill has been to want but
11little,--so little capital it required, so little distraction from my wonted moods, I foolishly thought. While my
12acquaintances went unhesitatingly into trade or the professions, I contemplated this occupation as most like theirs;
13ranging the hills all summer to pick the berries which came in my way, and thereafter carelessly dispose of them; so, to
14keep the flocks of Admetus. I also dreamed that I might gather the wild herbs, or carry evergreens to such villagers as
15loved to be reminded of the woods, even to the city, by hay-cart loads. But I have since learned that trade curses
16everything it handles; and though you trade in messages from heaven, the whole curse of trade attaches to the business.
17As I preferred some things to others, and especially valued my freedom, as I could fare hard and yet succeed well, I did
18not wish to spend my time in earning rich carpets or other fine furniture, or delicate cookery, or a house in the
19Grecian or the Gothic style just yet. If there are any to whom it is no interruption to acquire these things, and who
20know how to use them when acquired, I relinquish to them the pursuit. Some are "industrious," and appear to love labor
21for its own sake, or perhaps because it keeps them out of worse mischief; to such I have at present nothing to say.
22Those who would not know what to do with more leisure than they now enjoy, I might advise to work twice as hard as they
23do,--work till they pay for themselves, and get their free papers. For myself I found that the occupation of a
24day-laborer was the most independent of any, especially as it required only thirty or forty days in a year to support
25one. The laborer's day ends with the going down of the sun, and he is then free to devote himself to his chosen pursuit,
26independent of his labor; but his employer, who speculates from month to month, has no respite from one end of the year
27to the other. In short, I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one's self on this earth is not a
28hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely; as the pursuits of the simpler nations are still the sports
29of the more artificial. It is not necessary that a man should earn his living by the sweat of his brow, unless he sweats
30easier than I do. One young man of my acquaintance, who has inherited some acres, told me that he thought he should live
31as I did, if he had the means. I would not have any one adopt my mode of living on any account; for, beside that before
32he has fairly learned it I may have found out another for myself, I desire that there may be as many different persons
33in the world as possible; but I would have each one be very careful to find out and pursue his own way, and not his
34father's or his mother's or his neighbor's instead. The youth may build or plant or sail, only let him not be hindered
35from doing that which he tells me he would like to do. It is by a mathematical point only that we are wise, as the
36sailor or the fugitive slave keeps the polestar in his eye; but that is sufficient guidance for all our life. We may not
37arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we would preserve the true course. Undoubtedly, in this case, what is
38true for one is truer still for a thousand, as a large house is not proportionally more expensive than a small one,
39since one roof may cover, one cellar underlie, and one wall separate several apartments. But for my part, I preferred
40the solitary dwelling. Moreover, it will commonly be cheaper to build the whole yourself than to convince another of the
41advantage of the common wall; and when you have done this, the common partition, to be much cheaper, must be a thin one,
42and that other may prove a bad neighbor, and also not keep his side in repair. The only coöperation which is commonly
43possible is exceedingly partial and superficial; and what little true coöperation there is, is as if it were not, being
44a harmony inaudible to men. If a man has faith, he will coöperate with equal faith everywhere; if he has not faith, he
45will continue to live like the rest of the world, whatever company he is joined to. To coöperate, in the highest as well
46as the lowest sense, means to get our living together. I heard it proposed lately that two young men should travel
47together over the world, the one without money, earning his means as he went, before the mast and behind the plow, the
48other carrying a bill of exchange in his pocket. It was easy to see that they could not long be companions or coöperate,
49since one would not operate at all. They would part at the first interesting crisis in their adventures. Above all, as I
50have implied, the man who goes alone can start to-day; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is
51ready, and it may be a long time before they get off. But all this is very selfish, I have heard some of my townsmen
52say. I confess that I have hitherto indulged very little in philanthropic enterprises. I have made some sacrifices to a
53sense of duty, and among others have sacrificed this pleasure also. There are those who have used all their arts to
54persuade me to undertake the support of some poor family in the town; and if I had nothing to do,--for the devil finds
55employment for the idle,--I might try my hand at some such pastime as that. However, when I have thought to indulge
56myself in this respect, and lay their Heaven under an obligation by maintaining certain poor persons in all respects as
57comfortably as I maintain myself, and have even ventured so far as to make them the offer, they have one and all
58unhesitatingly preferred to remain poor. While my townsmen and women are devoted in so many ways to the good of their
59fellows, I trust that one at least may be spared to other and less humane pursuits. You must have a genius for charity
60as well as for any thing else. As for Doing-good, that is one of the professions which are full. Moreover, I have tried
61it fairly, and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution. Probably I should not
62consciously and deliberately forsake my particular calling to do the good which society demands of me, to save the
63universe from annihilation; and I believe that a like but infinitely greater steadfastness elsewhere is all that now
64preserves it. But I would not stand between any man and his genius; and to him who does this work, which I decline, with
65his whole heart and soul and life, I would say, Persevere, even if the world call it doing evil, as it is most likely
66they will.
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