獨處

生活在這紛擾喧囂的世界里，有時真的需要有自己獨處的空間。水邊漫步，佇立在無聲的空曠中，感受一份清靈；屋中獨坐，捧一品香茗，在氤氳的繚繞中隨意地讀一本好書，舒適閑淡；背上行囊，到心念已久的地方去，一個人前行，自在逍遙……

獨處，放飛自己的心靈，什么都可以想，什么都可以不想。獨處，靜美隨之而來，清靈隨之而來，溫馨隨之而來。想來，真好。

Solitude

Henry David Thoreau

I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company， even with the best， is soon wearisome and dissipating①. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone， let him be where he will. Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows. The really diligent student in one of the crowded hives of Cambridge College is as solitary as a dervish in the desert. The farmer can work alone in the field or the woods all day， hoeing② or chopping， and not feel lonesome， because he is employed; but when he comes home at night he cannot sit down in a room alone， at the mercy of③ his thoughts， but must be where he can see the folks， and recreate， and， as he thinks， remunerate① himself for his day’s solitude; and hence he wonders how the student can sit alone in the house all night and most of the day without ennui and the blues; but he does not realize that the student， though in the house， is still at work in his field， and chopping in his woods， as the farmer in his， and in turn seeks the same recreation and society that the latter does， though it may be a more condensed form of it.

Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals， not having had time to acquire any new value for each other. We meet at meals three times a day， and give each other a new taste of that old musty cheese that we are. We have had to agree on a certain set of rules， called etiquette and politeness， to make this frequent meeting tolerable and that we need not come to open war. We meet at the post-office， and at the sociable， and about the fireside every night; we live thick and are in each other’s way， and stumble over one another， and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another. Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important and hearty communications. Consider the girls in a factory—never alone， hardly in their dreams. It would be better if there were but one inhabitant to a square mile， as where I live. The value of a man is not in his skin， that we should touch him.

I have a great deal of company in my house; especially in the morning， when nobody calls. Let me suggest a few comparisons， that someone may convey an idea of my situation. I am no more lonely than the loon in the pond that laughs so loud， or than Walden Pond itself. What company has that lonely lake， I pray?

And yet it has not the blue devils， but the blue angels in it， in the azure tint of its waters. The sun is alone， except in thick weather， when there sometimes appear to be two， but one is a mock sun. god is alone—but the devil， he is far from being alone; he sees a great deal of company; he is legion. I am no more lonely than a single mullein or dandelion② in a pasture， or a bean leaf， or sorrel， or a horse-fly， or a bumblebee. I am no more lonely than the Millbrook， or a weathercock③， or the north star， or the south wind， or an April shower， or a January thaw， or the first spider in a new house.

H·D·梭羅，(Henry David Thoreau，1817-1862)，19世紀美國最具有世界影響力的作家、哲學家，著有《瓦爾登湖》、《論公民的不服從》等。他強調親近自然、學習自然、熱愛自然，追求“簡單些，再簡單些”的質樸生活，提倡短暫人生因思想豐盈而臻于完美。