Through the first paragraph, what does Thoreau declare as his highest purpose? In the first paragraph Thoreau states “I went into the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to face only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, find that I had not lived.” . Here he is saying that he wanted to live simply and live life knowing that one day when he dies he will live his life to the fullest extent possible. “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” Thoreau wants to take everything life has to offer him and make the best of it. He doesn't want to die knowing he didn't live as long as he could have. By "sucking the marrow out of life" he means taking everything he can from life. He feels that by going alone into the woods he will be able to have new experiences that will help him understand his purpose.2. He explains the distinctions he makes in paragraph 1Thoreau distinguishes what he would like his life to be; compare what he wants from life with what he currently has. He says “I didn't want to live what wasn't life, living is so dear; nor did I want to resign myself, unless it was absolutely necessary. He takes note of how dear and important life is and how he wants to live in a way he has never seen before, making the most of the life he has left.3. Cite and explain the antithesis in the first paragraph. “I wished to live deliberately, to face only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach me, and not, when I was about to die, discover that I had not lived. Antithesis is defined as a rhetorical device in which two opposing ideas are placed in a sentence to achieve a contrast... in the center of the card... which represents how fleeting time is Thoreau is aware that the time he has been given is very limited, especially when compared to. eternity, but like the river, time will flow even if he is not alive to witness it. "I have always regretted that I was not as wise as the day I was born." Compared to where he was in his life when he wrote this, when he was born there was much less to worry about. Children are able to live the simple life that Thoreau desires. We do not possess as much knowledge as we grow older, our intellect can be compared to time. As we get older we gain more knowledge, the two go hand in hand, but when we are young we are not wise so nothing is problematic, which is why Thoreau says he wishes he was as wise as he was when he was born, life is never as simple as it is it was the moment you were born.