'瓦爾登湖翻譯（三）'

Moreover, I, on my side, require of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere account of his own life, and not merely what he has heard of other men's lives; some such account as he would send to his kindred from a distant land; for if he has lived sincerely, it must have been in a distant land to me. Perhaps these pages are more particularly addressed to poor students.As for the rest of my readers, they will accept such portions as apply to them.I trust that none will stretch the seams in putting on the coat, for it may do good service to him whom it fits.

此外，我以個人觀點建議每一個作家，無論好壞，都要純粹而真誠地寫一下自己的生活，不只是聽寫他人的生活；有人會寫生活在遠離親人的異國他鄉；倘若他虔誠地生活，那肯定跟我一樣生活在偏遠之地。或許這些文字更可能是寫給窮學生的。對其他讀者來講，他們會接受這個部分的。我相信沒有人填補這個縫隙，寫過這樣的書，因為這本書可能是為某人量身打造的。