Thoreau and Gibran: Materials for Building Your House
In discussing "Economy" as part of a philosophical life, Thoreau writes at length about houses and house-building. I had never focused specifically on this theme in Walden. But on my most recent reading along with my American Philosophy students, I have been struck by its pervasiveness.
Having discussed in detail how he built his cabin at Walden Pond, including the materials that he drew from the forest, Thoreau writes: "It would be worth the while to build still more deliberately than I did, considering, for instance, what foundation a door, a window, a cellar, a garret, have in the nature of man, and perchance never raising any superstructure until we found a better reason for it than our temporal necessities even." Houses should be built from the nature and character of the persons who will live in them.
He expresses this point lucidly as follows: "What of architectural beauty I now see, I know has gradually grown from within outward, out of the necessities and character of the indweller, who is the only builder -- out of some unconscious truthfulness, and nobleness, without ever a thought for the appearance and whatever additional beauty of this kind is destined to be produced will be preceded by a like unconscious beauty of life."
The most noteworthy houses he sees in the country and the city are as "humble," "unpretending," and "simple" as the people who dwell in them. It is the simple beauty of these persons' lives that creates the simple beauty of their humble houses.
Khalin Gibran, in the section on houses in The Prophet, also emphasizes the importance of constructing a house with the spiritual materials of the indwellers' inner life:
"And tell me...what have you in these houses? And what is it you guard with fastened doors?
Have you peace, the quiet urge that reveals your power?
Have you remembrances, the glimmering arches that span the summits of the mind?
Have you beauty, that leads the heart from things fashioned of wood and stone to the holy mountain?
Tell me, have you these in your houses?
Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master?"
Peace, memory, and beauty, rather than comfort, create a noteworthy house and turn it into an admirable home. It is admirable because of the inner life of the people who live in it.
Khalil Gibran lived for part of his life in New York City, in Greenwich Village. Apparently, he wrote The Prophet while he lived in a studio apartment at 51 West 10th Street.
I feel that soon I will saunter to it. Perhaps it will be at the end of this lovely, sunny, crisp afternoon -- an autumn day of bright blue skies and golden light that shines on turning leaves. Today the world is so beautiful that it feels like a natural and spiritual home. It beckons me to be a worthy indweller, one who contributes to its beauty and admirableness.
Having discussed in detail how he built his cabin at Walden Pond, including the materials that he drew from the forest, Thoreau writes: "It would be worth the while to build still more deliberately than I did, considering, for instance, what foundation a door, a window, a cellar, a garret, have in the nature of man, and perchance never raising any superstructure until we found a better reason for it than our temporal necessities even." Houses should be built from the nature and character of the persons who will live in them.
He expresses this point lucidly as follows: "What of architectural beauty I now see, I know has gradually grown from within outward, out of the necessities and character of the indweller, who is the only builder -- out of some unconscious truthfulness, and nobleness, without ever a thought for the appearance and whatever additional beauty of this kind is destined to be produced will be preceded by a like unconscious beauty of life."
The most noteworthy houses he sees in the country and the city are as "humble," "unpretending," and "simple" as the people who dwell in them. It is the simple beauty of these persons' lives that creates the simple beauty of their humble houses.
Khalin Gibran, in the section on houses in The Prophet, also emphasizes the importance of constructing a house with the spiritual materials of the indwellers' inner life:
"And tell me...what have you in these houses? And what is it you guard with fastened doors?
Have you peace, the quiet urge that reveals your power?
Have you remembrances, the glimmering arches that span the summits of the mind?
Have you beauty, that leads the heart from things fashioned of wood and stone to the holy mountain?
Tell me, have you these in your houses?
Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master?"
Peace, memory, and beauty, rather than comfort, create a noteworthy house and turn it into an admirable home. It is admirable because of the inner life of the people who live in it.
Khalil Gibran lived for part of his life in New York City, in Greenwich Village. Apparently, he wrote The Prophet while he lived in a studio apartment at 51 West 10th Street.
I feel that soon I will saunter to it. Perhaps it will be at the end of this lovely, sunny, crisp afternoon -- an autumn day of bright blue skies and golden light that shines on turning leaves. Today the world is so beautiful that it feels like a natural and spiritual home. It beckons me to be a worthy indweller, one who contributes to its beauty and admirableness.
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| Gibran's Apartment in New York City (Photo: The New York Cedar) |
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