“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.” The quote is stressing that just because someone is different it does not mean that they are wrong, they just have a different mindset and different goals. One of Thoreau's main points in "Walden" is that people need to be unique and travel outside of their comfort zone. The Amish are an example of people "hearing a different drummer", they live life differently than the rest of society and are not wrong in any of their ways, they are just different and have their own beliefs. Ignorant people may see the Amish people as being dumb and wrong in life for not living like everyone else but their goals and views on life are different than the majority of today's society and that is how they choose to live their life. Thoreau recommends that living simply is the best way to go and that people are focused on unimportant luxuries nowadays, "...and if railroads are not built, how shall we get to heaven in season?" Thoreau's point is that men's ultimate goal should be to live a happy life and to eventually go to heaven when they die, if people are always working on things like railroads, they will never be happy. The railroad is not what will get people to heaven, it will just keep them busy and not happy like they should be.
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