Thought Provoking Quotes By Henry David Thoreau

As in geology, so in social institutions, we may discover the causes of all past changes in the present invariable order of society.

The fibers of all things have their tension and are strained like the strings of an instrument.

I have a great deal of company in the house, especially in the morning when nobody calls.

A man sits as many risks as he runs.

The greatest gains and values are farthest from being appreciated.

If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.

Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it.

All men want, not something to do with, but something to do, or rather something to be.

One is not born into the world to do everything, but to do something.

There never was and is not likely soon to be a nation of philosophers, nor am I certain it is desirable that there should be.

There is but one stage for the peasant and the actor.

Begin where you are and such as you are, without aiming mainly to become of more worth, and with kindness aforethought, go about doing good.

The only sin in the world is ignorance.

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.

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

A man can suffocate on courtesy.

Most of the luxuries, and many of the so called comforts of life, are not only indispensable, but positive hinderances to the elevation of mankind. With respect to luxuries and comforts, the wisest have ever lived a more simple and meagre life than the poor.

No face which we can give to a matter will stead us so well at last as the truth. This alone wears well.

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

Man who does not believe that each day contains an earlier, more sacred, and auroral hour than he has yet profaned, has despaired of life, and is pursuing a descending and darkening way.