Forthcoming

Uncommon Cents: Thoreau and the nature of Business

By Robert M. Abbott

Henry David Thoreau is revered for his contributions to the American environmental movement, but his influence on business is less well known. The central argument of Uncommon Cents is that Thoreau was a uniquely synthetic thinker whose ideas about the nature of business are useful, perhaps even vital, for contemporary students and business leaders. Rob Abbott has painstakingly gathered excerpts from Thoreau’s key writings on The Nature of Business; Wealth and Well Being; Simplicity and Self-Reliance; and Leadership and placed them in a present-day context by highlighting what it is about each subject that is relevant for scholars and business leaders. As well, each chapter includes a commentary in which Abbott distills the chapter to its essence – a takeaway message to help the reader think and act differently. The book closes with Abbott’s own message on where business, and the study of business needs to go to measure up to both the standard and the spirit of what Thoreau passionately called for 150 years ago.

At a time when the role of business in society is being fiercely debated, Uncommon Cents reminds us that the path to a more just, humane and caring world can be found in Thoreau’s good words. These words might yet help us see our world in new ways, with new eyes, and forge a new relationship with nature, and with each other.