Henry David Thoreau Quotes
-
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.
-
The unconsciousness of man is the consciousness of God.
-
The eye may see for the hand, but not for the mind.
-
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.
-
Whate'er we leave to God, God doesAnd blesses us.
-
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.
-
The life that I aspire to liveNo man proposeth me-No trade upon the streetWears its emblazonry.
-
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.
-
Simplify, simplify.
-
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.
-
My life is like a stroll upon the beach, As near the ocean's edge as I can go.
-
Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk.
-
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.
-
Man flows at once to God when the channel of purity is open.
-
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.
-
How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answered that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.
-
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!
-
Every poet has trembled on the verge of science.
-
None can be an impartial or wise observer of human life but from the vantage ground of what we should call voluntary poverty.
-
Far from New England's blustering shore,New England's worm her hulk shall bore,And sink her in the Indian seas,Twine, wine, and hides, and China teas.
-
What are the earth and all its interests beside the deep surmise which pierces and scatters them?
-
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?
-
I am a parcel of vain strivings tiedBy a chance bond together,Dangling this way and that, their linksWere made so loose and wide,Methinks,For milder weather.