"I would rather sit on a pumpkin alone than on a velvet cushion and be crowded." --Henry David Thoreau
This is one of my favorite quotes, and people often ask me what it means.
To me, it means that I would rather sit outside and enjoy something different, than something fine and fashionable--something that everyone thinks they want.
A crowded cushion, a trend.
I value authenticity, and strive to live differently in this world. A velvet cushion makes a sensible seat, does a pumpkin? I'm resigned to the fact that I may often seem out-of-place. I do not wish for the popular things of this world.
Okay, okay, but I fall into the swirl of "I want I want I want" all of the time. We are infected with images that drag us from the holy, that cover our true desires with desperate wantings.