Henry David Thoreau was a man of many, many words and many accomplishments.

His twelve volumes on Native Americans, six books on nature and travel and numerous essays proffer millions of words on many pages. While some of his words are more memorable than others, there are those phrases that have stood the test of time.

Thoreau, born David Henry, not Henry David, was cause for mention, if not celebration last week. On the occasion of the 200th year of his birth, he was in the news and his life and times revisited.

His life was short, existing in body only 44 years before succumbing to tuberculosis, but his achievements were numerous and long lasting. Thoreau entered Harvard at the young age of 16 and could read five languages, but survived on money earned manufacturing pencils, his family’s business. He was devoted to the study of science, an early advocate for the establishment of a system of natural parks, a champion of the ethical treatment of living things, and laid the groundwork for the field of ecology.

Another important aspect of his work was his chronicling of the timing of plants and their flowering. Today this body of study is being used to determine changes in climate and phenology over time resulting from climate change and other factors.

A very committed abolitionist, Thoreau served as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, once insisting that, ”your life be a counter friction to stop the machine,” be it slavery or other unsavory activities. Excellent advice even today and similar to the words of Elizabeth Warren during Sunday’s town hall meeting. Thoreau even spent time in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax that he believed supported a war he opposed. He was disappointed when someone paid his debt and he was released, seemingly preferring to stay in jail to raise awareness for his cause.

Thoreau went to live in a cabin on Walden Pond “to learn what the gross necessities of life are.” He famously admonished to “simplify, simplify, simplify,” and lived a vegetarian lifecycle without smoke, drink, coffee and even sex. Thoreau never married and considered sensuality a “dangerous contaminant,” that would “stain and pollute.” He spent two years, two months, and two days in his 10 by 15 by 8 dwelling.

There are some contradiction in Thoreau’s life. He once explained: “Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.”

However, from his wooded cabin, it was a mere 20-minute walk to see family and friends and was often visited by his mother and sister who brought food and the cookies of which he was fond. Clearly Thoreau, like many of us, had his own vices. And perhaps was not the hermit he made himself out to be.

I am neither a scholar nor critic about the value of Thoreau’s ideal or his contradictions. His life and work had admiral qualities as well as faults, much like the rest of us. He will always be admired for his love and chronicling of nature, noting on his deathbed, “This is a beautiful world, but soon I shall see one that is fairer. I have so loved nature.”

Suzan Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, and author of Martha’s Vineyard: A Field Guide to Island Nature.