Originally Posted by
happystuff
While I agree with and enjoyed the idea behind his exercise, I didn't like how he seemed to do it at the expense and "use" of others while seeming to claim "freedom and independence".
Thoreau addresses that point directly while recounting his expenses:
"Nothing was given me of which I have not rendered some account....To meet the objections of some inveterate cavillers, I may as well state, that if I dined out occasionally, as I always had done, and I trust shall have opportunities to do again, it was frequently to the detriment of my domestic arrangements. But the dining out, being, as I have stated, a constant element, does not in the least affect a comparative statement like this."
Make of that what you will. But people who dislike him will always find something to dislike, and people who do like him will always overlook his flaws.