Henry David Thoreau
(1817-1862)

birthdate: July 12
birthplace:
Concord, Massachusetts

QUOTES

"Wildness is the preservation of the World."

"We can never have enough of nature."

Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it.

"What's the use of a fine house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?"

Our life is frittered away by detail... Simplify, simplify, simplify! ... Simplicity of life and elevation of purpose.

“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.”

“To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but to so love wisdom as to live according to its dictates a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity and trust.”

That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.

There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.

The world is but a canvas to the imagination.

None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm

It is never too late to give up our prejudices.

"Friends . . . They are kind to each other's hopes. They cherish each other's dreams."

"What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen."

Things do not change, we do.

"Goodness is the only investment that never fails."

The language of friendship is not words but meanings.

"Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence."

 

"Only he is successful in his business who makes that pursuit which affords him the highest pleasure sustain him."

 

"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor."

"I learned at least this by my experiments. That if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

 

When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.

I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

 

All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil. The fight to the finish spirit is the one... characteristic we must posses if we are to face the future as finishers.

 

What people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can.

 

Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind. With respect to luxuries and comforts, the wisest have even lived a more simple and meagre life than the poor.

 

“To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but to so love wisdom as to live according to its dictates a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity and trust.”

 

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