Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862)

 Henry David Thoreau (/θəˈroʊ, ˈθɔroʊ, ˈθoʊroʊ/; July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American author, poet, philosopher, polymath, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leadingtranscendentalist.He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Resistance to Civil Government (also known as Civil Disobedience), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.

Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions are hiswritings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology andenvironmental history, two sources of modern-day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close natural observation, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore, while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and "Yankee" love of practical detail.He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time he advocated abandoning waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs.

1817年7月12日，美國作家亨利·梭羅誕生。梭羅無疑是個“怪人”：沒有學習任何職業，沒有結過婚，獨自一人居住，從來不去教堂，從來不選舉，拒絕向政府納稅，不吃肉，不喝酒，不吸煙……他的散文集《瓦爾登湖》和論文《論公民的不服從權利》，至今依然是經典。