Theodore Parker writes in his journal:
In our walk [Ralph Waldo] E[merson] expressed to me his admiration of Thoreau, & his foolish article on Aulus Persius Flaccus in the Dial. He said it was full of life. But alas the life is Emerson, not Thoreau’s, & so it had been lived before. However he says T is but a boy. I hope that he will write for the newspapers more & less for the Dial. I would recommend him to the editor of the New World to keep the youth out of mischief. I count this evening wasted—so few good things been said, by our Philosopher & Prophet.
(The Letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 2:324 note)
