From Walden
From Walden.
American · English
English translation prepared automatically for the Brief. Original sources and creator credits remain the reference.
The purity men love is like the mists which envelop the earth, and not like the azure ether beyond.
The surrounding passage
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.
The work and its creator
Explore the original at Project Gutenberg ↗
Creator: Henry David Thoreau
Nationality / cultural background: American
Work / edition: 1854
Historical public-domain text. Selected passage; line-end whitespace normalised. No generated quotation.
In the source: Economy; paragraph 515 in the selected body section
Selected for the Brief on 30 Sep 2026. This date records our selection, rather than when the work was created.
What is your take?
Ask a question, add useful context or share a different perspective. Keep the conversation respectful and grounded.