Q0078
Henry David Thoreau
A verified English rendering from the curated archive.
English
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life.
Source context
This English passage is associated with Walden, within the tradition of Transcendentalism. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.
A short reading
Read in the register of simplicity, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Henry David Thoreau's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?
How to cite this quotation
APA: Henry David Thoreau. (n.d.). I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0078
MLA: Henry David Thoreau. “I went to the woods because I wished….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0078.
Chicago: Henry David Thoreau. “I went to the woods because I wished….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0078.