that he occasionally enjoys going for a walk if it is his own idea and he doesn't have to put up with, orkeep up with, a companion. Beerbohm doesn't believe in walking for the sake of walking. He wants to have a purpose, a destination. That probably says a lot about his character. He differs from Hazlitt in that respect--but Hazlitt lived much earlier when there was less to do. Beerbohm lived well into the age of motor-cars. In "Going Out for a Walk" he writes:

Even if you go to some definite place, for some definite purpose, the brain would rather you took a vehicle; 

William Hazlitt was a good friend of William Wordsworth, the great poet who was noted for composing his verses while he was walking "o'er vales and hills." But Wordsworth would not walk with Hazlitt, or vice versa. Both of them would have found that their brains had shut off, and literature would be missing some fine pieces.

Beerbohm sees going out for a walk as his choice to do so when he has a reason to go. Being taken for a walk is when someone forces him to go for no reason other than to walk. He says the brain shuts off when one goes "walking for walking's sake". To underscore this opinion, he tells the story of the man who takes him for a walk and does nothing but read every sign and inscription they pass. His conversation amounts to totally insignificant chatter. Beerbohm points out that it's only when his walking companion is back inside that his brain begins working again. Beerbohm feels that it is the soul' s decision to walk for no reason whatsoever because it certainly couldn't be logic that would make a person go out for a walk without a purpose. At the end of his essay, however, Beerbohm admits he was on a walk when he got the idea for his essay on walking. He says he has nothing against walking for exercise as long as it's done in moderation, but he will continue his dislike for those people who walk "just to walk".

It seems to me after reading the essay that the thesis is that there is a certain satisfaction in following one's own core values.  Regardless of what others may say, when core values are being upheld and honored, individuals can feel resolute about their decisions and beliefs.  There is a tone of responsiveness in the essay, almost as if the speaker has been inundated with suggestions that walking for walking's sake is beneficial.  These have been suggested on health reasons, psychological benefits, and social pressure.  Despite these suggestions, the speaker claims that his freedom and choice to not go for a walk is resolute in the face of such claims.  Even at the end of his essay, when he divulges that the essay was composed as a result of walk, notice his language:  "I am not one of those extremists who must have a vehicle to every destination. I never go out of my way, as it were, to avoid exercise. I take it as it comes, and take it in good part. That valetudinarians are always chattering about it, and indulging in it to excess, is no reason for despising it." The idea here is that the speaker will determine for himself what he does and what he chooses in accordance to "in good part."  Choice out of personal decision and assertiveness in voice becomes the critical element in all choices.