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
adventure canadians carried clear england exposure hardship led possessed spirit though
The Canadians of those days, at least, possessed a roving spirit of adventure which carried them further, in exposure to hardship and danger, than ever the New England colonist went, and led them, though not to clear and colonize the wilderness, yet
associate thoughts-and-thinking
Associate reverently, as much as you can, with your loftiest thoughts.
bend force government instant itself living losing man recent single though transmit vitality
This American government -- what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its integrity? It has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man can bend it to his will.
expect harvest seed thoughts-and-thinking time
How can they expect a harvest of thought who have not had the seed time of character.
aim fail hit run though
In the long run you hit only what you aim at. Therefore, though you should fail immediately, you had better aim at something high.
aim fail hit men though
In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high.
associate thoughts
Associate reverently, and as much as one can with our loftiest thoughts
egg nest recorded side thoughts-and-thinking welcomed
Each thought that is welcomed and recorded is a nest egg by the side of which more will be laid.
egg nest recorded side thoughts-and-thinking welcomed
Each thought that is welcomed and recorded is a nest egg by the side of which more will be laid.
priest support taxed
I did not see why the schoolmaster should be taxed to support the priest, and not the priest the schoolmaster
flowers fragrance greet immortal life nature night
If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal -- that is your success. All nature is your congratulation . . .
earnest explore infinitely land learn mysterious mystery require sea time
At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable.
beware clothes require
Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.
conforming conformity high life living opinion
As to conforming outwardly, and living your own life inwardly, I have not a very high opinion of that course.