"Books are to be distinguished by the grandeur of their topics even more than by the manner in which they are treated."
Read quote
7 likes
Quote collection
Henry David Thoreau quotes (page 38 of 139)
2.8K quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
". . . I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days. . . ."
Read quote
7 likes
"For the most part we allow only outlying and transient circumstances to make our occasions. They are, in fact, the cause of our distraction."
Read quote
7 likes
"Every gazette brings accounts of the untutored freaks of the wind,--shipwrecks and hurricanes which the mariner and planter acceptas special or general providences; but they touch our consciences, they remind us of our sins. Another deluge would disgrace mankind."
Read quote
7 likes
"The Slothful do not have the time to become virtuous or despicable."
Read quote
7 likes
"Ah! I need solitude. I have come forth to this hill at sunset to see the forms of the mountains in the horizon - to behold and commune with something grander than man. Their mere distance and unprofanedness is an infinite encouragement. it is with infinite yearning and aspiration that I seek solitude, more and more resolved and strong; but with a certain weakness that I seek society ever."
Read quote
7 likes
"Alas! how little does the memory of these human inhabitants enhance the beauty of the landscape!"
Read quote
7 likes
"If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life."
Read quote
7 likes
"Generally speaking, a howling wilderness does not howl: it is the imagination of the traveler that does the howling."
Read quote
7 likes
"Why should we be startled by death? Life is a constant putting off of the mortal coil - coat, cuticle, flesh and bones, all old clothes."
Read quote
7 likes
"Many of the phenomena of Winter are suggestive of an inexpressible tenderness and fragile delicacy. We are accustomed to hear this king described as a rude and boisterous tyrant; but with the gentleness of a lover he adorns the tresses of Summer."
Read quote
7 likes
"It is in vain to dream of a wildness distant from ourselves. There is none such. It is the bog in our brains and bowels, the primitive vigor of Nature in us, that inspires that dream. I shall never find in the wilds of Labrador a greater wildness than in some recess of Concord."
Read quote
7 likes
"Most men cry better than they speak. You get more nurture out of them by pinching than addressing them."
Read quote
7 likes
"To a small man every greater is an exaggeration."
Read quote
7 likes
"We are independent of the change we detect. The longer the lever, the less perceptible its motion. It is the slowest pulsation which is the most vital. The hero then will know how to wait, as well as to make haste. All good abides with him who waiteth wisely; we shall sooner overtake the dawn by remaining here than by hurrying over the hills of the west."
Read quote
7 likes
"I suppose you think that persons who are as old as your father and myself are always thinking about very grave things, but I know that we are meditating the same old themes that we did when we were ten years old, only we go more gravely about it."
Read quote
7 likes
"I saw deep in the eyes of the animals the human soul look out upon me. I saw where it was born deep down under feathers and fur, or condemned for a while to roam four-footed among the brambles,I caught the clinging mute glance of the prisoner and swore that I would be faithful."
Read quote
7 likes
"Most men I do not meet at all, for they seem not to have time; they are busy about their beans."
Read quote
7 likes
"The boatmen appeared to lead an easy and contented life, and we thought that we should prefer their employment ourselves to many professions which are much more sought after. They suggested how few circumstances are necessary to the well-being and serenity of man, how indifferent all employments are, and that any may seem noble and poetic to the eyes of men, if pursued with sufficient buoyancy and freedom."
Read quote
7 likes
"If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see."
Read quote
7 likes