Original artwork, not a still
Walden · 1854
The student who secures his coveted leisure and retirement by systematically shirking any labor necessary to man obtains but an ignoble and unprofitable leisure, defrauding himself of the experience which alone can make leisure fruitful.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Thoreau argues that a student who wins rest by dodging necessary work gets only a shabby, worthless kind of leisure. By avoiding labour, he cheats himself of the experience that gives free time its meaning, so the reward turns out empty.
Context reviewed
