Henry David Thoreau Quotes II

I have been as sincere a worshipper of Aurora as the Greeks.
Henry David Thoreau

I have found that hollow, which even I had relied on for solid.
Henry David Thoreau

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.
Henry David Thoreau

I have never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude. 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.
Henry David Thoreau

I have seen how the foundations of the world are laid, and I have not the least doubt that it will stand a good while.
Henry David Thoreau

I have thought there was some advantage even in death, by which we mingle with the herd of common men.
Henry David Thoreau

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

I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.
Henry David Thoreau

I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude.
Henry David Thoreau

I put a piece of paper under my pillow, and when I could not sleep I wrote in the dark.
Henry David Thoreau

I say beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.
Henry David Thoreau

I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself than this incessant business.
Henry David Thoreau

I was more independent than any farmer in Concord, for I was not anchored to a house or farm, but could follow the bent of my genius, which is a very crooked one, every moment.
Henry David Thoreau

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
Henry David Thoreau

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.
Henry David Thoreau

If a man constantly aspires is he not elevated?
Henry David Thoreau

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
Henry David Thoreau

If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.
Henry David Thoreau

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.
Henry David Thoreau

If I seem to boast more than is becoming, my excuse is that I brag for humanity rather than for myself.
Henry David Thoreau


If it is surely the means to the highest end we know, can any work be humble or disgusting? Will it not rather be elevating as a ladder, the means by which we are translated?
Henry David Thoreau

If misery loves company, misery has company enough.
Henry David Thoreau

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.
Henry David Thoreau

If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.
Henry David Thoreau

If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.
Henry David Thoreau

If you can speak what you will never hear, if you can write what you will never read, you have done rare things.
Henry David Thoreau

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
Henry David Thoreau

If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see.
Henry David Thoreau

Ignorance and bungling with love are better than wisdom and skill without.
Henry David Thoreau

In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood.
Henry David Thoreau

In my afternoon walk I would fain forget all my morning occupations and my obligations to society.
Henry David Thoreau

In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, they had better aim at something high.
Henry David Thoreau

In the meanest are all the materials of manhood, only they are not rightly disposed.
Henry David Thoreau

In wilderness is the preservation of the world.
Henry David Thoreau

Instead of noblemen, let us have noble villages of men.
Henry David Thoreau

Is the babe young? When I behold it, it seems more venerable than the oldest man.
Henry David Thoreau

It appears to be a law that you cannot have a deep sympathy with both man and nature.
Henry David Thoreau

It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.
Henry David Thoreau

It is an interesting question how far men would retain their relative rank if they were divested of their clothes.
Henry David Thoreau

It is best to avoid the beginnings of evil.
Henry David Thoreau

It is better to have your head in the clouds, and know where you are... than to breathe the clearer atmosphere below them, and think that you are in paradise.
Henry David Thoreau

It is never too late to give up our prejudices.
Henry David Thoreau

It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.
Henry David Thoreau

It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?
Henry David Thoreau

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

It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.
Henry David Thoreau

It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man.
Henry David Thoreau

It is the greatest of all advantages to enjoy no advantage at all.
Henry David Thoreau

It is too late to be studying Hebrew; it is more important to understand even the slang of today.
Henry David Thoreau

It is usually the imagination that is wounded first, rather than the heart; it being much more sensitive.
Henry David Thoreau

It is what a man thinks of himself that really determines his fate.
Henry David Thoreau

It takes two to speak the truth: one to speak, and another to hear.
Henry David Thoreau

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
Henry David Thoreau

Justice is sweet and musical; but injustice is harsh and discordant.
Henry David Thoreau

Live the life you've dreamed.
Henry David Thoreau

Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.
Henry David Thoreau

Live your life, do your work, then take your hat.
Henry David Thoreau

Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh.
Henry David Thoreau

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.
Henry David Thoreau

May we so love as never to have occasion to repent of our love!
Henry David Thoreau