Quotes By Henry David Thoreau

That man is rich whose pleasures are the cheapest.

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.

Being is the great explainer.

There is no just and serene criticism as yet.

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?

The squirrel that you kill in jest, dies in earnest.

The smallest seed of faith is better than the largest fruit of happiness.

There is more of good nature than of good sense at the bottom of most marriages.

Nothing goes by luck in composition. It allows of no tricks. The best you can write will be the best you are.

Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in.

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

True friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance.

The lawyer's truth is not Truth, but consistency or a consistent expediency.

Those whom we can love, we can hate; to others we are indifferent.

How can any man be weak who dares to be at all?

Beware of all enterprises that require a new set of clothes.

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.

Alas! how little does the memory of these human inhabitants enhance the beauty of the landscape!

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

Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.

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.

Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul.

There is always a present and extant life, be it better or worse, which all combine to uphold.

Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.

Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.

Great men, unknown to their generation, have their fame among the great who have preceded them, and all true worldly fame subsides from their high estimate beyond the stars.

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

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

Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.

The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them.