[One Thousand Characters a Day] Leslie Stephen's 'In Praise of Walking'

Editor's NoteLeslie Stephen, a 19th-century British writer, critic, and historian, was a very passionate mountaineer. He also served as the president of the world's first mountaineering club, the Alpine Club. His enthusiasm for walking is well reflected in The Praise of Walking (1898). He states that walking enables the meeting of body and mind, and each walking experience acts as a kind of marker that segments chapters in our memory. The memories of walking serve as resting stations scattered throughout the long journey of life, or the "earthly pilgrimage." The text contains 955 characters.

Those who truly enjoy walking do so simply because it is pleasurable in itself. They do not boast beyond the self-satisfaction derived from the physical endurance walking demands. The muscular exercise of the legs is regarded merely as a secondary effect accompanying the "brain exercise" stimulated by walking, or the quiet meditation and imagination that arise while walking, maintaining intellectual balance steadily as they keep stepping forward. Although cyclists or golfers may also engage in such self-communication during moments between hitting the ball or pedaling, the reason people genuinely enjoy walking is that their minds remain undisturbed and they unconsciously fall into a consistently quiet state of contemplation. Therefore, it is regrettable if one considers classical walking journeys outdated simply because cycling or other leisure activities are enjoyable.

When recalling the moments I have "lived well," events that seemed trivial at the time often stand out as important memories. Opening the album of memories stored in my mind, the experiences of walking come to the forefront most vividly. Scenes once considered more significant tend to merge into a larger picture, appearing as a single mass rather than distinct images. Memories of friendships that illuminated my life do not arise as a sequence of specific events but blend with countless forgotten memories to form a general impression. I remember the friend, but the exact conversations shared are not clearly recalled. However, memories of walking are associated with specific times and places, vividly bringing to mind the location and time. They unconsciously appear in a calendar-like form, triggering a chain of related memories. Looking back, these successive images reveal each stage of my "earthly pilgrimage" contained within walking. Each image evokes a once-familiar place, and the thoughts linked to that place recall what I was doing at the time.

- The Joy of Walking, edited by Suzy Cripps, translated by Yun Gyochan and Jo Aeri, Influential Publishing, 16,800 KRW