Henry David Thoreau Quotes
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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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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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Nothing is so much to be feared as fear. Atheism may comparatively be popular with God himself.
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Those services which the community will most readily pay for it is most disagreeable to render. You are paid for being something less than a man.
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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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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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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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The life that I aspire to liveNo man proposeth me-No trade upon the streetWears its emblazonry.
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The unconsciousness of man is the consciousness of God.
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That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.
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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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Men remain in their present low and primitive condition; but if they should feel the influence of the spring of springs arousing them, they would of necessity rise to a higher and more ethereal life.
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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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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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The eye may see for the hand, but not for the mind.
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Man flows at once to God when the channel of purity is open.
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Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.
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This world is but canvas to our imaginations.
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The rush to California, for instance, and the attitude, not merely of merchants, but of philosophers and prophets, so called, in relation to it, reflect the greatest disgrace on mankind. That so many are ready to live by luck, and so get the means of commanding the labor of others less lucky, without contributing any value to society!
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Whate'er we leave to God, God doesAnd blesses us.
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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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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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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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Life consists with wildness. The most alive is the wildest. Not yet subdued to man, its presence refreshes him.