Well it seems to me...

"We think that that is which appear to be." (Thoreau Chapter 2 par. 21)

This statement can be very true. Most of the time, we take things at face value and judge things by what they look like at first glance. Kind of like judging a book by it's cover. It takes time to really look into things to figure out what really happening or what something it really trying to say. So really, taking something for how it appears to be is a way to cut corners. Not everything has to be deeply thought about and observed. Some things are better at face value. But generally speaking, if time is taken to really look at something, usually something different from your original reaction to it can be seen.

"Housework was a pleasant pastime. When my floor was dirty, I rose early, and, setting all my furniture out of doors on the grass, ...and by the time the villagers had broken their fast the morning sun had dried my house sufficiently to allow me to move in again, and my meditations were almost uninterupted." (Thoreau Chapter 4 par. 3)

This is a more personal comment but when I read that statment I thought to myself "Wow that's exactly what I do!" I love getting up early before most people to get things accomplished, especially housework. And I love doing housework too! There's something fantastic about waking up when the sun rises and knowing that you have a whole day to accomplish things instead of waking up late and having everything rushed.

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL266/2009/09/thoreau_walden/#comments