Meaning of "indispensable" in Thoreau quote?

Question

> Most of the luxuries, and many of the so called comforts of life, are not only indispensable, but positive hinderances to the elevation of mankind. ~ "Walden", Henry David ThoreauIn my dictionary indispensable means "absolutely necessary", but if we substitute that in the above quote seems nonsensical, but I can't find any mention online of this apparent... typo? Maybe he meant to write "not indispensable", or "dispensable"? Am I reading or understanding this quote incorrectly?Offending sources: - http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henrydavid132501.html - https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/340961-most-of-the-luxuries-and-many-of-the-so-called - Forbes "quote of the day" today

Answer 1

Thoreau is writing with "tongue in cheek". You are entirely correct that the word means the opposite of what you would expect in this sentence. Since he is talking about "hinderances to the elevation of mankind", we would expect the word dispensable to be used in this sentence. But his juxtaposition of these two parts of the sentence is meant to be ironic. In "Walden", Thoreau has gone back to nature in the Massachusetts woods and contemplates what he finds as he lives simply. He argues in this book that he finds meaning of life that is elevated or superior to how people normally live their lives in the society as it is structured and organized in the time he is writing. He holds up modern conveniences as impediments to our understanding and full contemplation of the important things in life.