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Rh says,—"But to make haste to my own experiment;" again, he concludes,—"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that, if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life that he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." In retiring thus for a time for self-analysis and growth, he had three main motives,—to find the actual cost of the necessaries of civilized life, to gain an intimate and constant acquaintance with nature at all seasons, and to attend to what he calls "some private business,"—namely, to read, think, and record his observations, reflections, and practical experiences. He had a tentative belief that his special aptitude was writing, and writing of a particular, and then unusual, trend,—the preservation of poetic and philosophical ideas associated with nature-lore.

The residence at Walden has been too often misconstrued both as regards aim, general and personal, and also his actual life there. Professor Gates, in a recent study of Wordsworth, has said,—"At times it almost seems as if Wordsworth would have liked to have all men and women take to the woods." The same thought has been expressed often about Thoreau and the question has been raised regarding the "scheme" which