sweet follies

Thoreau removed himself to the outskirts of Concord, pretending to exile himself in the woods - for no other reason than to prove that it could be done. As long as a man had the courage to reject what society told him to do, he could live life on his own terms. To what end? To be free. But free to what end? To read books, to write books, to think.

PAUL AUSTER, The Brooklyn Follies