Something to Think About

Henry David Thoreau was a well-known communer with nature. Perhaps this passage takes his commitment to an extreme, but who's to say he's wrong?

"I think I cannot preserve my health and spirits
unless I spend four hours a day at least-- and it
is commonly more than that-- sauntering through
the woods and over hills and fields, absolutely free
from all worldly engagements. You may safely say,
A penny for your thoughts, or a thousand pounds.
When sometimes I am reminded that the mechanics
and shopkeepers stay in their shops not only all the
forenoon, but all the afternoon too, sitting with
crossed legs, so many of them-- as if the legs were
made to sit upon, and not to stand or walk upon--
I think that they deserve some credit for not
having committed suicide long ago."