I had three pieces of limestone on my desk, but I was terrified to find that they required to be dusted daily, when the furniture of my mind was all undusted still, and threw them out the window in disgust. How, then, could I have a furnished house? I would rather sit in the open air, for no dust gathers on the grass, unless where man has broken ground.
It is the luxurious and dissipated who set the fashions which the herd so diligently follow…. I think that in the railroad car we are inclined to spend more on luxury than on safety and convenience, and it threatens without attaining these to become no better than a modern drawing-room, with its divans, and ottomans, and sun-shades, and a hundred other oriental things…. I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion. I would rather ride on earth in an ox cart, with a free circulation, than go to heaven in the fancy car of an excursion train and breathe a malaria all the way.
Henry David Thoreau, from “Economy” in Walden
Conversation Starter: Would you Rather?
Create a Would you Rather? conversation game.
Would you rather…
- have something beautiful that needs cleaned or have a clean and clear surface?
- Sit in a luxurious car or a safe car?
- be crowded somewhere posh or sprawl out somewhere ordinary?
- sit in a comfortable chair inside or on the grass outside?
Invite your companions to create more. Pause occasionally and discuss your choices.