Henry David Thoreau Quotes And Sayings

Henry David Thoreau was an American essayist, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian. A leading transcendentalist, Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay “Civil Disobedience”, an argument for disobedience to an unjust state. Thoreau’s books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry amount to more than 20 volumes. Thoreau’s philosophy of civil disobedience later influenced the political thoughts and actions of such notable figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.

I Am Grateful For What I Am And Have. My Thanksgiving Is Perpetual.

Live Your Beliefs And You Can Turn The World Around.

I Left The Woods For As Good A Reason As I Went There. Perhaps It Seemed To Me That I Had Several More Lives To Live And Could Not Spare Any More Time For That One.

I Say, Beware Of All Enterprises That Require New Clothes, And Not Rather A New Wearer Of Clothes.

The Price Of Anything Is The Amount Of Life You Exchange For It.

Thank God Men Cannot Fly, And Lay Waste The Sky As Well As The Earth.

What Is The Use Of A House If You Haven't Got A Tolerable Planet To Put It On?

What Is Called Genius Is The Abundance Of Life And Health.

Our Houses Are Such Unwieldy Property That We Are Often Imprisoned Rather Than Housed By Them.

We Are For The Most Part More Lonely When We Go Abroad Among Men Than When We Stay In Our Chambers. A Man Thinking Or Working Is Always Alone, Let Him Be Where He Will.

Dreams Are The Touchstones Of Our Character.

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.

Not Until We Are Lost Do We Begin To Understand Ourselves.

It Is A Characteristic Of Wisdom Not To Do Desperate Things.

Through Our Own Recovered Innocence We Discern The Innocence Of Our Neighbors.

I Put A Piece Of Paper Under My Pillow, And When I Could Not Sleep I Wrote In The Dark.

It Is Never Too Late To Give Up Our Prejudices.

A Broad Margin Of Leisure Is As Beautiful In A Man's Life As In A Book. Haste Makes Waste, No Less In Life Than In Housekeeping. Keep The Time, Observe The Hours Of The Universe, Not Of The Cars.

Our Life Is Frittered Away By Detail... Simplify, Simplify.

Truths And Roses Have Thorns About Them.

The Smallest Seed Of Faith Is Better Than The Largest Fruit Of Happiness.

Many Men Go Fishing All Of Their Lives Without Knowing That It Is Not Fish They Are After.

There Are Old Heads In The World Who Cannot Help Me By Their Example Or Advice To Live Worthily And Satisfactorily To Myself; But I Believe That It Is In My Power To Elevate Myself This Very Hour Above The Common Level Of My Life.

Alas! How Little Does The Memory Of These Human Inhabitants Enhance The Beauty Of The Landscape!

I Have Found That Hollow, Which Even I Had Relied On For Solid.

They Can Do Without Architecture Who Have No Olives Nor Wines In The Cellar.

Where There Is An Observatory And A Telescope, We Expect That Any Eyes Will See New Worlds At Once.

It Is Not Part Of A True Culture To Tame Tigers, Any More Than It Is To Make Sheep Ferocious.

May We So Love As Never To Have Occasion To Repent Of Our Love!

The Lawyer's Truth Is Not Truth, But Consistency Or A Consistent Expediency.

I Have Found That No Exertion Of The Legs Can Bring Two Minds Much Nearer To One Another.

The Life Which Men Praise And Regard As Successful Is But One Kind. Why Should We Exaggerate Any One Kind At The Expense Of The Others?

So Thoroughly And Sincerely Are We Compelled To Live, Reverencing Our Life, And Denying The Possibility Of Change. This Is The Only Way, We Say; But There Are As Many Ways As There Can Be Drawn Radii From One Centre. All Change Is A Miracle To Contemplate; But It Is A Miracle Which Is Taking Place Every Instant.

We Are All Sculptors And Painters, And Our Material Is Our Own Flesh And Blood And Bones. Any Nobleness Begins At Once To Refine A Man's Features, Any Meanness Or Sensuality To Imbrute Them.

Never Look Back Unless You Are Planning To Go That Way.

The Squirrel That You Kill In Jest, Dies In Earnest.

It Appears To Be A Law That You Cannot Have A Deep Sympathy With Both Man And Nature.

I Am Sorry To Think That You Do Not Get A Man's Most Effective Criticism Until You Provoke Him. Severe Truth Is Expressed With Some Bitterness.

Nothing Makes The Earth Seem So Spacious As To Have Friends At A Distance; They Make The Latitudes And Longitudes.

The Universe Is Wider Than Our Views Of It.

The Artist Is He Who Detects And Applies The Law From Observation Of The Works Of Genius, Whether Of Man Or Nature. The Artisan Is He Who Merely Applies The Rules Which Others Have Detected.

Our Truest Life Is When We Are In Dreams Awake.

It Is What A Man Thinks Of Himself That Really Determines His Fate.

Instead Of Noblemen, Let Us Have Noble Villages Of Men.

Could A Greater Miracle Take Place Than For Us To Look Through Each Other's Eyes For An Instant?

After The First Blush Of Sin Comes Its Indifference.

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.

Only He Is Successful In His Business Who Makes That Pursuit Which Affords Him The Highest Pleasure Sustain Him.

There Is Always A Present And Extant Life, Be It Better Or Worse, Which All Combine To Uphold.

The Man Who Goes Alone Can Start Today; But He Who Travels With Another Must Wait Till That Other Is Ready.