Wealth Without Measure

                                                                                   

 

"I've never met a man who was truly awake.  I wouldn't know how to look him in the eyes."
--Henry David Thoreau

Somebody once asked Thoreau if he would give a talk on the evils of alcohol and tobacco. He declined, stating that since he had never tried alcohol or tobacco he wasn't in a position to speak about the effects of either tobacco or alcohol from personal experience--and experience is what generates our most powerful ideas and motivates our most profound actions. Experience retold inspires readers to look more closely at their own lives; an experience retold is relived through the emotional and intellectual intensity experienced by the reader. "A Personal Narrative Essay is an experience retold for a reason: to recreate the emotional and intellectual intensity of the original experience.