Henry David Thoreau Quotes
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Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul.
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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.
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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.
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That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.
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The unconsciousness of man is the consciousness of God.
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The life that I aspire to liveNo man proposeth me-No trade upon the streetWears its emblazonry.
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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.
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Man flows at once to God when the channel of purity is open.
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None can be an impartial or wise observer of human life but from the vantage ground of what we should call voluntary poverty.
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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.
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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.
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How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answered that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.
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Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Whate'er we leave to God, God doesAnd blesses us.
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The eye may see for the hand, but not for the mind.
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Every poet has trembled on the verge of science.
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I hear beyond the range of sound, I see beyond the range of sight,New earths and skies and seas around, And in my day the sun doth pale his light.
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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.
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Here while I lie beneath this walnut bough,What care I for the Greeks or for Troy town,If juster battles are enacted nowBetween the ants upon this hummock's crown?
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What are the earth and all its interests beside the deep surmise which pierces and scatters them?
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Simplify, simplify.