Quote
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach.
Note
Thoreau's famous explanation for his experiment at Walden Pond centers on intentionality—to "live deliberately" means to choose consciously rather than drift. "Fronting only the essential facts" is about stripping away distraction and facing what truly matters. This is clearly an internal standard: the decision to simplify, to pay attention, to learn directly from experience. It's not escapism but a focused inquiry into the fundamentals of being alive.