Walden

Although studies of Thoreau by such twentieth-century scholars as F. O. Matthiessen, Sherman Paul, and Walter Harding have made his writings very popular in university and literary circles, the often hard-hitting truths that Thoreau presents in his books and essays have attracted by themselves a widespread audience. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., acknowledged his personal debt to Thoreau's thought-provoking essay on civil disobedience by declaring that, "I was so deeply moved that I re-read the work ["Civil Disobedience"] several times. . . . No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are heirs of a legacy of creative protest." In India, another civil rights leader, Mohandas Gandhi, was also stimulated by Thoreau's writings. Gandhi admitted that "his ideas influenced me greatly. I adopted some of them and recommended the study of Thoreau to all my friends who were helping me in the cause of Indian independence. . . . There is no doubt that Thoreau's ideas greatly influenced my movement in India." In 1962, Rev. Trevor Bush, a leader in the protest movement against the racist policies of the South African government, also acknowledged a similar indebtedness to Thoreau: "His influence in South Africa has been extremely important and our struggle to win rights for the oppressed non-white population of our country has been assisted profoundly by the fearless liberal teachings and example of . . . [this] great philosopher and prophet." These are only a few of many examples of Thoreau's influence on social action in America and abroad, and his consequent popularity. It is likely that Thoreau will continue to have a large audience among those who are searching for timeless truths that can be applied to man's situation. As philosopher Martin Buber has pointed out: "Thoreau expresses exactly that which is valid for all human history." In Thoreau's writings, one may discover that literature may be very much connected with real-life needs; one may find that art can be immediately relevant to everyday personal and social concerns.