It is said that Mirabeau took to highway robbery "to ascertain what degree of resolution was necessary in order to place one's self in formal opposition to the most sacred laws of society."  He declared that "a soldier who fights in the ranks does not require half so much courage as a footpad" ―― "that honor and religion have never stood in the way of a well-considered and a firm resolve." This was manly， as the world goes； and yet it was idle， if not desperate.  A saner man would have found himself often enough "in formal opposition" to what are deemed "the most sacred laws of society，" through obedience to yet more sacred laws， and so have tested his resolution without going out of his way.  It is not for a man to put himself in such an attitude to society， but to maintain himself in whatever attitude he find himself through obedience to the laws of his being， which will never be one of opposition to a just government， if he should chance to meet with such.

　　I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there.  Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live， and could not spare any more time for that one.  It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route， and make a beaten track for ourselves.  I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond-side； and though it is five or six years since I trod it， it is still quite distinct.  It is true， I fear， that others may have fallen into it， and so helped to keep it open.  The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men； and so with the paths which the mind travels.  How worn and dusty， then， must be the highways of the world， how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity！  I did not wish to take a cabin passage，but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world， for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains.  I do not wish to go below now.

　　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 which he has imagined， he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.  He will put some things behind， will pass an invisible boundary； new， universal， and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him； or the old laws be expanded， and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense， and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.  In proportion as he simplifies his life， the laws of the universe will appear less complex， and solitude will not be solitude， nor poverty poverty， nor weakness weakness.  If you have built castles in the air， your work need not be lost； that is where they should be.  Now put the foundations under them.

　　It is a ridiculous demand which England and America make， that you shall speak so that they can understand you.  Neither men nor toadstools grow so.  As if that were important， and there were not enough to understand you without them.  As if Nature could support but one order of understandings， could not sustain birds as well as quadrupeds， flying as well as creeping things， and hush and whoa，which Bright can understand， were the best English.  As if there were safety in stupidity alone.  I fear chiefly lest my expression may not be extravagant enough， may not wander far enough beyond the narrow limits of my daily experience， so as to be adequate to the truth of which I have been convinced.  Extra vagance！ it depends on how you are yarded.  The migrating buffalo， which seeks new pastures in another latitude， is not extravagant like the cow which kicks over the pail， leaps the cowyard fence， and runs after her calf， in milking time.  I desire to speak somewhere without bounds； like a man in a waking moment， to men in their waking moments； for I am convinced that I cannot exaggerate enough even to lay the foundation of a true expression.  Who that has heard a strain of music feared then lest he should speak extravagantly any more forever？  In view of the future or possible， we should live quite laxly and undefined in front， our outlines dim and misty on that side； as our shadows reveal an insensible perspiration toward the sun.  The volatile truth of our words should continually betray the inadequacy of the residual statement.  Their truth is instantly translated； its literal monument alone remains.  The words which express our faith and piety are not definite； yet they are significant and fragrant like frankincense to superior natures.

　　Why level downward to our dullest perception always， and praise that as common sense？  The commonest sense is the sense of men asleep， which they express by snoring.  Sometimes we are inclined to class those who are once-and-a-half-witted with the half-witted，because we appreciate only a third part of their wit.  Some would find fault with the morning red， if they ever got up early enough. "They pretend，" as I hear， "that the verses of Kabir have four different senses； illusion， spirit， intellect， and the exoteric doctrine of the Vedas"； but in this part of the world it is considered a ground for complaint if a man's writings admit of more than one interpretation.  While England endeavors to cure the potato-rot， will not any endeavor to cure the brain-rot， which prevails so much more widely and fatally？

　　I do not suppose that I have attained to obscurity， but I should be proud if no more fatal fault were found with my pages on this score than was found with the Walden ice.  Southern customers objected to its blue color， which is the evidence of its purity， as if it were muddy， and preferred the Cambridge ice， which is white，but tastes of weeds.  The purity men love is like the mists which envelop the earth， and not like the azure ether beyond.

　　Some are dinning in our ears that we Americans， and moderns generally， are intellectual dwarfs compared with the ancients， or even the Elizabethan men.  But what is that to the purpose？  A living dog is better than a dead lion.  Shall a man go and hang himself because he belongs to the race of pygmies， and not be the biggest pygmy that he can？  Let every one mind his own business， and endeavor to be what he was made.

　　據說米拉波到大路上試驗了一次剪徑的行為，“來測驗一下，正式違抗社會最神圣的法律到底需要多少程度的決心”。他后來宣稱“戰場上的士兵所需要的勇氣只有剪徑強盜的一半”，――還說，“榮譽和宗教不能攔阻住一個審慎而堅定的決心。”而在這個世界上，米拉波總算是個男子漢了；可是這很無聊，即使他并不是無賴。一個比較清醒的人將發現自己“正式違抗”所謂“社會最神圣的法律”的次數是太多了，因為他服從一些更加神圣的法律，他不故意這樣做，也已經測驗了他自己的決心。其實他不必對社會采取這樣的態度，他只要保持原來的態度，僅僅服從他自己的法則，如果他能碰到一個公正的政府，他這樣做是不會和它對抗的。

　　我離開森林，就跟我進入森林，有同樣的好理由。我覺得也許還有好幾個生命可過，我不必把更多時間來交給這一種生命了。驚人的是我們很容易糊里糊涂習慣于一種生活，踏出一條自己的一定軌跡。在那兒住不到一星期，我的腳就踏出了一條小徑，從門口一直通到湖濱；距今不覺五六年了，這小徑依然還在。是的，我想是別人也走了這條小徑了，所以它還在通行。大地的表面是柔軟的，人腳留下了蹤跡；同樣的是，心靈的行程也留下了路線。想人世的公路如何給踐踏得塵埃蔽天，傳統和習俗形成了何等深的車轍！

　　我不愿坐在房艙里，寧肯站在世界的桅桿前與甲板上，因為從那里我更能看清群峰中的皓月。我再也不愿意下到艙底去了。

　　至少我是從實驗中了解這個的：一個人若能自信地向他夢想的方向行進，努力經營他所想望的生活，他是可以獲得通常還意想不到的成功的。他將要越過一條看不見的界線，他將要把一些事物拋在后面；新的、更廣大的、更自由的規律將要開始圍繞著他，并且在他的內心里建立起來；或者舊有的規律將要擴大，并在更自由的意義里得到有利于他的新解釋，他將要拿到許可證，生活在事物的更高級的秩序中。他自己的生活越簡單，宇宙的規律也就越顯得簡單，寂寞將不成其為寂寞，貧困將不成其為貧困，軟弱將不成其為軟弱。如果你造了空中樓閣，你的勞苦并不是白費的，樓閣應該造在空中，就是要把基礎放到它們的下面去。

　　英國和美國提出了奇怪可笑的要求，要求你說話必須能被他們理解。人生和毒菌的生長都不是這樣聽命的。還以為這很重要，好像沒有了他們便沒有人來理解你了。好像大自然只贊成這樣一種理解的能力，它養得活四足動物而并不能養活鳥雀，養活了走獸而養不活飛禽，輕聲，別說話和站住的吆喝，好像成了最好的英文，連勃萊特也能懂得的。仿佛只有愚蠢倒能永保安全！我最擔心的是我表達的還不夠過火呢，我擔心我的表達不能超過我自己的日常經驗的狹隘范圍，來適應我所肯定的真理！過火！這要看你處在什么境地。漂泊的水牛跑到另一個緯度去找新的牧場，并不比奶牛在喂奶時踢翻了鉛桶，跳過了牛欄，奔到小牛身邊去，來得更加過火。我希望在一些沒有束縛的地方說話；像一個清醒的人跟另一些清醒的人那樣他說話；我覺得，要給真正的表達奠立一個基礎，我還不夠過火呢。誰聽到過一段音樂就害怕自己會永遠說話說得過火呢？為了未來或為了可能的事物，我們應該生活得不太緊張，表面上不要外露，輪廓不妨曖昧而朦朧些，正如我們的影子，對著太陽也會顯得不知不覺地汗流浹背的。我們的真實的語言易于蒸發掉，常使一些殘余下來的語言變得不適用。它們的真實是時刻改變的；只有它的文字形式還保留著。表達我們的信心和虔誠的文字是很不確定的；它們只對于卓越的人才有意義，其芳馨如乳香。

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