I can top you there, Chant. In the end he wasn't even a Christian anymore. Seems he lost his way somehow. Still it doesn't mean that he had everything wrong all the time. Even if he was a nutcase or a fraud, his ideas on simplicity are good ones, at least worth thinking about. And he was quite erudite, which makes his work handy. I wonder, is there anyone outside of Jesus who we don't have to qualify occasionally, or at some point in their life?
Do not worry, TCN, you are in my prayers concerning the driving issue. I know I had a difficulty getting on the road too, but I finally did about a year or so ago. :) Nonetheless, I see what you mean about the dependency on cars. One reason we also need cars is because of the distance between this and that place like work, school, stores, or other places. A professor of mine who is a toxicologist told my Radiopharmacy class that sooner or later electric cars will be used made by a maker like Tesla motors. I am not sure about that though completely, but you never know. My professor said that first the movie stars would start buying the electric cars and make them popular, and then finally they would get cheap enough where we could all afford them. Still, it would be nice if places were closer to our own homes. Someday I hope I can then somehow buy a house close to my workplace.
About Thoreau, indeed, I would not really always take the advice of a non-Catholic seriously. Some advice can be good coming from non-Catholics, but the rest should be not really taken to heart. It is sad though that we have a society where the examples are celebrities who are not really examples to follow. Mel Gibson is one of the very few exceptions despite his recent mishap. We can talk about celebrities forever too, but their lives are not ours. Talking about them can distract from our own lives and from reality then. Especially consider the fact how celebrities are put forth as heroes and saviors, but all they really try to do is entertain. I mean what have they done besides entertaining and perhaps charity? Where is the Catholic example? Celebrities seem to be put forth as the "aristocrats" of today. I know I went off on a tangent here, but I just wanted to mention something that had to somewhat do with Thoreau's advice not being the best advice for a Catholic to take.