Henry David Thoreau Quotes
-
While there are manners and compliments we do not meet, we do not teach one another the lessons of honesty and sincerity that the brutes do, or of steadiness and solidity that the rocks do. The fault is commonly mutual, however; for we do not habitually demand any more of each other.
-
The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer. I am surprised, as well as delighted, when this happens, it is such a rare use he would make of me, as if he were acquainted with the tool.
-
For many years I was self-appointed inspector of snowstorms and rainstorms, and did my duty faithfully, though I never received one cent for it.
-
That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.
-
But now I see I was not plucked for naught,And after in life's vaseOf glass set while I might survive,But by a kind hand broughtAliveTo a strange place.
-
Man flows at once to God when the channel of purity is open.
-
This world is but canvas to our imaginations.
-
The life that I aspire to liveNo man proposeth me-No trade upon the streetWears its emblazonry.
-
The unconsciousness of man is the consciousness of God.
-
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which it was already but too easy to arrive at.
-
Men go to a fire for entertainment. When I see how eagerly men will run to a fire, whether in warm or in cold weather, by day or by night, dragging an engine at their heels, I'm astonished to perceive how good a purpose the level of excitement is made to serve.
-
Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.
-
It is so rare to meet with a man out-doors who cherishes a worthy thought in his mind, which is independent of the labor of his hands.
-
Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul.
-
In our science and philosophy, even, there is commonly no true and absolute account of things. The spirit of sect and bigotry has planted its hoof amid the stars. You have only to discuss the problem, whether the stars are inhabited or not, in order to discover it.
-
How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answered that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.
-
What are the earth and all its interests beside the deep surmise which pierces and scatters them?
-
The eye may see for the hand, but not for the mind.
-
Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk.
-
Every poet has trembled on the verge of science.
-
The commonest and cheapest sounds, as the barking of a dog, produce the same effect on fresh and healthy ears that the rarest music does. It depends on your appetite for sound. Just as a crust is sweeter to a healthy appetite than confectionery to a pampered or diseased one.
-
You can hardly convince a man of an error in a lifetime, but must content yourself with the reflection that the progress of science is slow. If he is not convinced, his grandchildren may be.
-
Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.
-
We are apt to imagine that this hubbub of Philosophy, Literature, and Religion, which is heard in pulpits, lyceums, and parlors, vibrates through the universe, and is as catholic a sound as the creaking of the earth's axle. But if a man sleeps soundly, he will forget it all between sunset and dawn.