“The trees and shrubs rear white arms to the sky on every side; and where were walls and fences, we see forms stretching in frolic gambols across the dusky landscape, as if Nature had strewn her fresh designs over the fields by night as models for man's art.”

American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher

Henry David Thoreau was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. He is closely associated with the transcendentalist movement and is best known for Walden and for his essay "Civil Disobedience". Walden reflects on simple living in natural surroundings. "Civil Disobedience" argues that citizens may resist an unjust state. Thoreau's writing often returns to independence, conscience, and a close attention to nature.