Read the following excerpt from Walden by Henry Thoreau and then choose your answer. I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his
dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success
unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary;
new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him;
or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live
with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the
universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor
weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where
they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
Which of the following best states the author's claim?
It is only through cautious deliberation that one will reach his or her dreams of success.
Abandoning caution in the pursuit of dreams frees people from a static life and encourages
growth.
O The more complicated human life becomes, the more likely one is to reach his or her dreams.
O One need not work hard to reach his or her dreams: fate controls our destiny.