仅仅为了拥有物质而去拥有,或者与邻居攀比斗富,这在梭罗看来是低层次的人生。高层次的人生,应该信奉这一积极的人生信条:不断提升个人对于本质上永恒之物的感知。一个人在低层次生活上节省的时间与精力,可用于追求高层次的生活。当然,梭罗并不赞成忍饥挨饿,但对于他来说,吃饭仅是为了维持身体的正常功能,以节省精力去做更重要的事情。努力是幸福的精髓。如果我们不能终身与困难较量,就不可能感到幸福。当罗伯特·弗罗斯特说“快乐就在苦难中”时,他 Thoreau, as a low-level life, is owned only by the possession of a substance or is incompatible with its neighbors. At a high level, we should believe in this positive tenet of life: continually elevating one’s perception of what is essentially an eternal thing. The time and energy saved by a person in low-level life can be used to pursue high-level life. Thoreau, of course, did not agree with hunger, but for him, eating just to maintain the normal function of the body, to save energy to do more important things. Efforts are the essence of happiness. We can not feel happy if we can not compete for life and difficulty. When Robert Frost said “happiness is in distress”, he