pg. 198 wldn

Text: ...I did not work hard, I did not have to eat hard, and it cost me but a trifle for m food. But as he began with tea, and coffee, and butter, and milk and beef, he had to work hard to pay for them, and when he worked hard he had to eat hard again to repair the waste of system.

Thoreau is playing into the idea again that there is no point in having nice things if they are going to start owning you. "we don't ride the railroad but the railroad rides us." Thoreau gets along fine with what he has, which is not much and certainly nothing very nice, but he does it without working hard. However this man has many things like milk, bread and beef but has to work hard all day long for them and when he does this he must eat hard and buy new things to make up for the wear and tear put on his things by working hard therefore digging him into a certain debt. Thoreau then makes the statement later on that if the man only lived as simply as him he could work hard and make enough profit for 2 weeks.