Aristotle. William Wordsworth. Charles Dickens. Henry Thoreau. John Muir. Nassem Taleb. Patrick Leigh Fermor. Soren Kierkegaard. Ludwig Van Beethoven. Nine men passionate about walking. Why would some of the greatest minds in history take time from their extraordinary pursuits to meander? For one contemporary writer, Taleb, humans, much like businesses and economies, need to face “intermittent stressors, randomness, and variation” to remain “healthy, robust, and anti-fragile.” Beethoven needed walks to infuse creativity. Dickens walked, often for over twenty miles, for psychological survival. Their reasons and processes are as fascinating as they are varied.
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