Thoreau's "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" depicts an explanation of the world's current desire to move quickly through life without taking time to truly view the world. This literary work displays the values of time and the inability of people to enjoy current time. The "news" to people is displayed in a form of gossip rather than actual news, not only in the previous lifetime, but of the people of our current time. Thoreau's attitude shown in his work exemplifies desired ideas that would philosophically create peace, however I feel that Thoreau does not take into account the current nature that people of the modern world have adapted to: fast paced living that does not allow a person to enjoy the "now" due to their tense focus on the tomorrow. .
Thoreau opens the third paragraph with a rhetorical question with the intention of getting the reader to pause and notice his/her surrounding which he expressingly feels humans do not do enough. The question asks, "Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?" and is answered throughout the content of the paragraph. He exemplifies his thoughts on this through the quote, "We are determined to be starved before we are hungry." It displays how people focus so intently on the future that they forget to focus on the present. However this statement couldn't truly be dealt with in the way Thoreau suggests because in order to get to a certain point, one must work toward each ending. For example, to be great at soccer (which may be one's outlet to happiness) takes time and effort. Paragraph three mentions a man that says people do as much as they can today so that they have for tomorrow. This statement is ironic because by doing this, you are still losing one day, which is Thoreau's view. However, is losing a "today" necessary when the tomorrow is more important? This scenario is displayed in events such as too much homework being given during a weekend.