Ever think about tossing it all, running away, and living a simple life in a cabin in the woods? Thoreau did, in the mid-1800s, and then wrote this — part how-to manual, part spiritual discovery.

Walden (first published as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) is an American book written by noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings.

First published in 1854, it details Thoreau’s experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond, amidst woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts.

The book compresses the time into a single calendar year and uses passages of four seasons to symbolize human development.

Our favorite part was the day he spent watching ants.