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
skins leopards spots
The Ethiopian cannot change his skin nor the leopard his spots.
change patience hero
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.
change doubt tradition
So easy is it, though many housekeepers doubt it, to establish new and better customs in the place of the old.
change men animal
Man is an animal who more than any other can adapt himself to all climates and circumstances.
change events causes
For the most part we allow only outlying and transient circumstances to make our occasions. They are, in fact, the cause of our distraction.
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.