How has Henry influenced people all over the world?
“How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book,” Henry wrote in Walden. (2) Little did he realize how true that statement would be for so many people who read his book! Today Walden has inspired millions of readers and is considered Henry’s masterpiece. Since Emerson brought copies of Walden to England, its worldwide impact has never ceased to spread. Walden has been printed in hundreds of editions and dozens of languages. It has influenced conservationists, writers, philosophers, activists, and individuals of all professions and passions. None of that would have happened, however, if Henry had carried out his experiment and kept it to himself; it was by sharing his story that he inspired so many people and changed the world. Henry’s messages of simple, deliberate living; spirituality in nature; and conservation are present throughout his works but achieved little recognition in his own lifetime. It was only after his death and in the following century that
