What did McCandless do that he felt Thoreau and Tolstoy would take pride in?

McCandless burned his money, something that would make Thoreau and Tolstoy proud.

Then, in a gesture that would have done both Thoreau and Tolstoy proud, he arranged all his paper currency in a pile on the sand—a pathetic little stack of ones and fives and twenties—and put a match to it.