The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail quote

I chose the quote "Our own school, John. No buildings. Break out of the classroom prison. All we need is the sky!".  It reflects the Transcendentalist thought in a few ways.

First of all, Transcendentalists don't believe in the school education system. They think that education gets in the way of education. You need to abandon the normal ways of teaching to really learn. That's what Henry is saying when he says to break out of the classroom. It means mentally break out, to find a new way of learning. Also it means to physically break out and have a school of their own taught their own way. Henry is saying they need intellectual independence abandon the old ways for the new, right ways to learn.

Next, this quote shows presentism. Presentism is the only thing that matters is the present. When Henry says, "All we need is the sky," it shows how he's not worried about the further and what might come. He's also forgetting the past where he was forced to whip students. He going to start over again, and focus on the present.

Finally, it shows you need to trust your instincts. Henry is following his instinct when he suggests that he and John make a school on their own. Henry's not waiting to really think it over and see how it's going to work, he just goes for it. Your instincts are usually right, and following them is the best idea. If Henry wasn't trusting his instincts, he would have planned, and agonized over making his school. But he trusted his instincts and it turned out alright in the end.

As you can see, this quote shows many of the Transcendentalism thoughts, such as intellectual independence, presentism, and to trust instincts.