They who know of no purer sources of truth, who have traced up its stream no higher, stand, and wisely stand, by the Bible and the Constitution
He believes that the Bible and the Constitution are wise and have purest truths about the world inside them.
All men recognize the right of revolution
This value reminds me of the first amendment, the right to petition the government. The amendment isn't as intense but it is still sending the same message, that if the government is wrong, we then have the right to tell them they are.
After all, the practical reason why
This is a little detail showing he follows the philosophy of Socrates.
A living dog is better than a dead lion.
Another thought from the author saying being alive is better than being dead no matter who they are.
Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed
He show that another value of his is patience. This ties back to my last annotation where he says he has several lives to live. He doesn't rush his life in the woods but he wants to live more lives.
I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one. It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves.
He is saying how even though living in the woods was very important to him because it let him follow his values, he still had more values that he wanted to pursue. He also has more lives he wants to live. He thinks back on this idea.
Every day or two I strolled to the village to hear some of the gossip which is incessantly going on there,
He is saying how even though he wants to disconect from society, he still wants to know what is going on.
One afternoon, near the end of the first summer, when I went to the village to get a shoe from the cobbler’s, I was seized and put into jail, because, as I have elsewhere related, I did not pay a tax to, or recognize the authority of
He shows his purpose of living in the woods, he was put in jail for not paying taxes, he didn't pay these taxes because they are immoral to him.
By night, of course, the perplexity is infinitely greater
I partially agree with him that something confusing or interesting is multiplied during night time. This is because we cant see everything at night, so those that are unknown are even worse at night.
We should never cheat and insult and banish one another by our meanness, if there were present the kernel of worth and friendliness. We should not meet thus in haste. Most men I do not meet at all, for they seem not to have time; they are busy about their beans.
He is stating his morals. He believes that when your meeting someone it shouldn't be rushed even if they don't have time for you because they are planting beans.
Why concern ourselves so much about our beans for seed, and not be concerned at all about a new generation of men?
He seems to be questioning his decisions now and earlier in this chapter. He wants to be out enjoying and becoming better from nature, but is making sure its the right decision.
They attached me to the earth, and so I got strength like Antæus.
He feels strength because he is more connected to the earth and nature. He does this by planting the beans.
Wiser men were demigods to him.
This is his definition of being humble, but its amazing how great his definition puts wiser men.
It is an ocean of subtile intelligences. They are every where, above us, on our left, on our right; they environ us on all sides.”
I like the picture this is painting, that no matter how small, we are always surrounded by intelligence.
Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself?
Since the author being a human, is made out of earthly materials. He is wondering if he should be more connected with the planet and know more about it.
I have found that no exertion of the legs can bring two minds much nearer to one another.
I interpret this as him saying sheer force can't bring people together.
Nothing can rightly compel a simple and brave man to a vulgar sadness. While I enjoy the friendship of the seasons I trust that nothing can make life a burden to me. The gentle rain which waters my beans and keeps me in the house to-day is not drear and melancholy, but good for me too.
He is saying to look on the bright side because whatever "hardships" that life throws at him opens up an opportunity.
Every path but your own is the path of fate. Keep on your own track, then.
Fate is a path predetermined and out of the persons control. What he is saying here is that your path is the only one that is flexible, so travel the unplanned path.
I rejoice that there are owls.
This shows that his journey is not to be alone, its to be with nature as he rejoices over the owls and the untouched land.
An old-fashioned man would have lost his senses or died of ennui before this.
He is saying two things here. First is how alone he is in the woods, and second is how he isn't like the normal or old fashioned man. He enjoys the peacefulness and wont die from having nothing to do.
The universe constantly and obediently answers to our conceptions; whether we travel fast or slow, the track is laid for us. Let us spend our lives in conceiving then.
The line "whether we travel fast or slow, the track is laid for us" reminds me of something from fast and furious but it also shows how giant life is no matter what we are doing or how fast we are doing it we are always going somewhere.
Children, who play life, discern its true law and relations more clearly than men, who fail to live it worthily, but who think that they are wiser by experience, that is, by failure.
He believes that children live life worthier than men because children live in the present where men have a clouded mind thinking in the future. I like how the author trades experience to failure. It reminds me when I was a kid and coaches and teachers use to say "you learn from your mistakes". He attacks that and shows everybody has a difference of opinions, something we easily hold to be true is a lie in other peoples mind.