Hacking at the Branches of Evil Henry David Thoreau

I love the work of Henry David Thoreau, particularly his book Walden. When, in the early 90s, I lived in Carlisle, Massachusetts, a few miles up the road from Concord, I often visited  Walden Pond. It was and still is one of my favorite places in the world, and I took my wife there to share it with her when we visited New England in 2019. It hadn’t changed much in 30 years.

I can’t really explain it, but the idyllic setting of the Pond connects me with Thoreau and his thinking.

In the first chapter of Walden, he states that thousands are hacking at the branches of evil, but only one is striking at the root. If you are familiar with this quote and have ever wondered what Thoreau meant, look at this post on Quora by Adam Warburton that sums it up nicely.

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root, and it may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time and money on the needy is doing the most by his mode of life to produce that misery which he strives in vain to relieve.

Credit: Henry David Thoreau

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