Authors:

Henry David Thoreau Quotes - Page 38

All Quotes Achievement Acting Adventure Age Aids Alcohol Ambition Anxiety Appreciation Army Art Atheism Atmosphere Attitude Authority Autumn Beach Beauty Beer Being Alone Being Yourself Bible Birth Bones Bravery Business Caring Change Character Charity Chastity Children Christ Christianity Church Civil Disobedience College Commitment Common Sense Communication Community Confidence Conformity Confusion Consciousness Constitution Contemplation Cooking Copper Country Courage Creation Creativity Criticism Culture Curiosity Darkness Death Deception Democracy Depression Design Desire Destiny Determination Devil Disappointment Discipline Dogma Doubt Drinking Duty Dying Earth Eating Ecology Economics Economy Education Effort Encouraging Energy Enthusiasm Environment Eternity Ethics Evil Excellence Exercise Expectations Experience Failing Failure Faith Fame Family Farming Fashion Fate Fear Feelings Fighting Finding Yourself Flying Focus Food Freedom Friends Friendship Funny Future Gardening Generosity Genius Giving Giving Up God Gold Good Deeds Good Morning Goodbye Goodness Gossip Grace Graduation Gratitude Greatness Greed Greek Grief Grieving Growth Happiness Hard Work Harmony Hate Healing Health Heart Heaven Heroism History Home Honesty Honor Hope House Human Nature Humanity Humility Hunger Hunting Hypocrisy Ignorance Imagination Immortality Imperfection Impulse Independence Individuality Injustice Innocence Insanity Inspiration Inspirational Inspiring Integrity Intelligence Jesus Journalism Journey Joy Judging Justice Kindness Knowledge Labor Language Latin Laughter Learning Liberty Life Listening Literature Live Life Loneliness Losing Loss Love Luck Lying Manhood Mankind Marriage Meditation Memories Mental Health Mercy Mindfulness Money Moon Morality Morning Motivation Motivational Mountain Music Nature Navy Observation Office Opportunity Optimism Overcoming Past Patience Patriotism Peace Perception Perfection Perseverance Personality Perspective Philanthropy Philosophy Physics Pleasure Poetry Police Politics Positive Poverty Power Praise Prayer Pride Privacy Progress Property Purity Purpose Quality Rain Reading Reality Rebellion Reflection Regret Reincarnation Religion Reputation Respect Responsibility Revelations Revolution Risk Running Sabbath Sacrifice Sad Sadness Sailing Sanity School Science Self Esteem Self Reliance Self Respect Serenity Silence Simple Life Simplicity Sin Sincerity Singing Skins Slavery Sleep Sloth Social Responsibility Society Solitude Son Sorrow Soul Sports Spring Strength Struggle Students Study Style Success Suffering Summer Sunrise Sunshine Sympathy Tea Teaching Technology Temperance Thanksgiving Time Today Tradition Tragedy Transcendentalism Travel True Love Trust Truth Understanding Universe Violence Virtue Vision Volunteer Voting Waiting Walking Wall War Water Weakness Wealth Weed Wilderness Wine Winter Wisdom Work Writing Yoga Youth
It is not part of a true culture to tame tigers, any more than it is to make sheep ferocious.

It is not part of a true culture to tame tigers, any more than it is to make sheep ferocious.

Henry David Thoreau
Sheep, Culture, Literature
Henry David Thoreau (2012). “The Portable Thoreau”, p.407, Penguin

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; as railroads lead to Boston or New York. We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.

Henry David Thoreau
New York, Mean, Texas
1854 Walden, or Life in the Woods,'Economy'.

It is desirable that a man be clad so simply that he can lay his hands on himself in the dark, and that he live in all respects so compactly and preparedly, that, if an enemy take the town, he can, like the old philosopher, walk out the gate empty-handed without anxiety.

Henry David Thoreau
Men, Anxiety, Enemy
"The Illustrated Walden: Thoreau Bicentennial Edition".

My greatest skill has been to want but little.

Henry David Thoreau
Life, Happiness, Skills
Henry David Thoreau (1882). “Walden”, p.111

Good for the body is the work of the body, good for the soul the work of the soul, and good for either the work of the other.

Henry David Thoreau
Work, Inspiration, Soul And Body
Henry David Thoreau, Odell Shepard (1961). “The Heart of Thoreau's Journals”, p.18, Courier Corporation

Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Henry David Thoreau
Life, Wise, Philosophy
Henry David Thoreau (1937). “The selected works of Thoreau”, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)

Let us first be as simple and well as Nature ourselves, dispel the clouds which hang over our brows, and take up a little life into our pores. Do not stay to be an overseer of the poor, but endeavor to become one of the worthies of the world.

Henry David Thoreau
Simple, Clouds, World
Henry David Thoreau (1882). “Walden”, p.125

Our life is frittered away by detail. An honest man has hardly need to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he may add his ten toes, and lump the rest. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!

Henry David Thoreau
Life, Men, Simplicity
Henry David Thoreau (2006). “Thoreau and the Art of Life: Precepts and Principles”, p.74, Heron Dance Press

Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself.

Henry David Thoreau
Funny, Life, Nature
Henry David Thoreau (1995). “Walden, Or, Life in the Woods”, p.90, Courier Corporation

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

Henry David Thoreau
War, Men, History
Civil Disobedience (1849)

Man is the artificer of his own happiness.

Henry David Thoreau
Happiness, Laughter, Men
Henry David Thoreau, Bob Blaisdell (2011). “Thoreau: A Book of Quotations”, p.33, Courier Corporation

Haste makes waste, no less in life than in housekeeping.

Henry David Thoreau
Life, Haste Makes Waste, Leisure
Henry David Thoreau, Steve Grant (2005). “Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year”, p.103, Univ of Massachusetts Press

In wildness is the preservation of the world.

Henry David Thoreau
Camping, World, Transcendentalism
"Walking" (1862)

The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.

Henry David Thoreau
Good Morning, Stars, Eye
Walden ch. 18 (1854)

if i repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. what demon possessed me that i behaved so well?

Henry David Thoreau
Demon, Rebellion, Behavior
Henry David Thoreau (2012). “The Portable Thoreau”, p.159, Penguin

I come to my solitary woodland walk as the homesick go home.

Henry David Thoreau
Nature, Home, Solitary
Henry David Thoreau (2012). “Thoreau's Book of Quotations”, p.114, Courier Corporation

How we shall earn our bread is a grave question; yet it is a sweet and inviting question. Let us not shirk it, as is usually done.It is the most important and practical question which is put to man. Let us not answer it hastily. Let us not be content to get our bread in some gross, careless, and hasty manner. Some men go a-hunting, some a-fishing, some a-gaming, some to war; but none have so pleasant a time as they who in earnest seek to earn their bread.

Henry David Thoreau
Sweet, War, Men
Henry David Thoreau (2016). “Familiar Letters - The Writings of Henry David Thoreau”, p.101, Read Books Ltd

In winter we lead a more inward life. Our hearts are warm and cheery, like cottages under drifts.

Henry David Thoreau
Heart, Winter, Inward
Henry David Thoreau (2012). “The Portable Thoreau”, p.54, Penguin

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. Let them be your only diet drink and botanical medicines.

Henry David Thoreau
Time, Food, Air
Henry David Thoreau, Odell Shepard (1961). “The Heart of Thoreau's Journals”, p.119, Courier Corporation

Thus men will lie on their backs, talking about the fall of man, and never make an effort to get up.

Henry David Thoreau
Life, Lying, Fall
Henry David Thoreau (1992). “The Essays of Henry David Thoreau”, p.78, Rowman & Littlefield

Men are probably nearer the essential truth in their superstitions than in their science.

Henry David Thoreau
Truth, Men, Gambling
Henry David Thoreau (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Henry David Thoreau (Illustrated)”, p.2300, Delphi Classics

We cannot write well or truly but what we write with gusto.

Henry David Thoreau
Writing, Gusto, Wells
Henry David Thoreau (1960). “H. D. Thoreau, a Writer's Journal”, p.66, Courier Corporation

The government of the world I live in was not framed, like that of Britain, in after-dinner conversations over the wine.

Henry David Thoreau
Wine, Government, World
'Walden' (1854) 'Economy' conclusion

The rich man is always sold to the institution which makes him rich. Absolutely speaking, the more money, the less virtue.

Henry David Thoreau
Money, Men, Rich
Henry David Thoreau (1942). “Civil Disobedience”, p.11, Hayes Barton Press

Through our own recovered innocence we discern the innocence of our neighbors.

Henry David Thoreau
Soulmate, Literature, Innocence
Henry David Thoreau (1995). “Walden, Or, Life in the Woods”, p.203, Courier Corporation

You May Also Like: