Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreauwas 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 Resistance to Civil Government, an argument for disobedience to an unjust state...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth12 July 1817
CountryUnited States of America
memories pyramids facts
The monument of death will outlast the memory of the dead. The Pyramids do not tell the tale which was confided to them; the living fact commemorates itself.
communication men silence
There are some things which a man never speaks of, which are much finer kept silent about. To the highest communications we only lend a silent ear.
poetry littles poetic
We have heard much about the poetry of mathematics, but very little of it has yet been sung. The ancients had a juster notion of their poetic value than we.
morality ethics physics
Mathematics should be mixed not only with physics but with ethics.
climbing solitude society
As for the dispute about solitude and society, any comparison is impertinent. It is an idling down on the plane at the base of a mountain, instead of climbing steadily to its top.
dog men solitude
The man of genius, like a dog with a bone, or the slave who has swallowed a diamond, or a patient with the gravel, sits afar and retired, off the road, hangs out no sign of refreshment for man and beast, but says, by all possible hints and signs, I wish to be alone,--good-by,--fare-well. But the Landlord can afford to live without privacy.
solitude independence boundaries
Individuals, like nations, must have suitable broad and natural boundaries, even a considerable neutral ground, between them.
lonely lakes laughing
I am no more lonely than the loon in the pond that laughs so loud, or than Walden Pond itself. What company has that lonely lake,I pray?
lonely loneliness being-alone
We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers.
few greater man measure might require seeing shall tape understand understanding
We shall see but little way if we require to understand what we see. How few things can a man measure with the tape of his understanding! How many greater things might he be seeing in the meanwhile!
call close commonly good lie men pigs social together virtue warm
What men call social virtue, good fellowship, is commonly but the virtue of pigs in a litter, which lie close together to keep each other warm
achieving american-author goals motivational
What you get by achieving your goals is to as important as what you become by achieving your goals.
absolutely destiny origin philosophers-and-philosophy sort
What sort of philosophers are we, who know absolutely nothing about the origin and destiny of cats?
natural
How sweet is the perception of a new natural fact!