Henry David Thoreau's Reading Quote

Henry David Thoreau’s “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”

“The millions are awake enough for physical labor; but only one in a million is awake enough for effective intellectual exertion, only one in a hundred millions to a poetic or divine life.”

Here Thoreau is explaining that nearly all people don’t get to experience the intellectual stimulation that he experiences. Most people drift through life concerned with material items and dedicate their life to working in industrial environments. These people never wake their inner genius as Thoreau calls it. He feels that if people stopped caring about material objects and other mainstream ideals, they would be able to experience this “intellectual exertion” he is fortunate enough to experience.