Henry David Thoreau Quotes
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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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Where there is a lull of truth, an institution springs up. But the truth blows right on over it, nevertheless, and at length blows it down.
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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.
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Whate'er we leave to God, God doesAnd blesses us.
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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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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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Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul.
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Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.
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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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And the cost of a thing it will be remembered as the amount of life it requires to be exchanged for it.
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No man with a genius for legislation has appeared in America. They are rare in the history of the world. There are orators, politicians, and eloquent men, by the thousand; but the speaker has not yet opened his mouth to speak who is capable of settling the much-vexed questions of the day.
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The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.
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Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.
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Great God, I ask thee for no meaner pelfThan that I may not disappoint myself,That in my action I may soar as highAs I can now discern with this clear eye.
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It was his peculiar doctrine that a man has a perfect right to interfere by force with the slaveholder, in order to rescue the slave. I agree with him. They who are continually shocked by slavery have some right to be shocked by the violent death of the slaveholder, but no others.
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My life is like a stroll upon the beach, As near the ocean's edge as I can go.
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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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The wisest man preaches no doctrines; he has no scheme; he sees no rafter, not even a cobweb, against the heavens. It is clear sky. If I ever see more clearly at one time than at another, the medium through which I see is clearer.
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As we passed under the last bridge over the canal, just before reaching the Merrimack, the people coming out of church paused to look at us from above, and apparently, so strong is custom, indulged in some heathenish comparisons; but we were the truest observers of this sunny day
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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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Every poet has trembled on the verge of science.
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Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.
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I will not talk about people a thousand miles off, but come as near home as I can. As the time is short, I will leave out all the flattery, and retain all the criticism. Let us consider the way in which we spend our lives.
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And now, at half-past ten o'clock, I hear the cockerels crow in Hubbard's barns, and morning is already anticipated. It is the feathered, wakeful thought in us that anticipates the following day.