Memorable Quotes by Henry David Thoreau

Humility like darkness reveals the heavenly lights.

Petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of the reality.

There is no just and serene criticism as yet.

That man is rich whose pleasures are the cheapest.

What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.

Nature puts no question and answers none which we mortals ask. She has long ago taken her resolution.

So our human life but dies down to its root, and still puts forth its green blade to eternity.

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.

The boy gathers materials for a temple, and then when he is thirty, concludes to build a woodshed.

What is called genius is the abundance of life and health.

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

The impression made by a wise man is that of universal innocence.

The language of excitement is at best picturesque merely. You must be calm before you can utter oracles.

The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise.

Every people have gods to suit their circumstances.

The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.

Men are born to succeed, not to fail.

Our moments of inspiration are not lost though we have no particular poem to show for them; for those experiences have left an indelible impression, and we are ever and anon reminded of them.

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

There is danger that we lose sight of what our friend is absolutely, while considering what she is to us alone.