Henry David Thoreau Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old Henry David Thoreau quotes, Henry David Thoreau sayings, and Henry David Thoreau proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

There is but one stage for the peasant and the actor. Henry David Thoreau
Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake. Henry David Thoreau
Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for the love of it. Henry David Thoreau
Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something. Henry David Thoreau
There are two classes of authors: the one write the history of their times, the other their biography. Henry David Thoreau
We never exchange more than three words with a Friend in our lives on that level to which our thoughts and feelings almost habitually rise. Henry David Thoreau
A man may acquire a taste for wine or brandy, and so lose his love for water, but should we not pity him. Henry David Thoreau
The thoughtful man becomes a hermit in the thoroughfares of the marketplace. Henry David Thoreau
The language of excitement is at best picturesque merely. You must be calm before you can utter oracles. Henry David Thoreau
For what are the classics but the noblest thoughts of man? They are the only oracles which are not decayed, and there are such answers to the most modern inquiry in them as Delphi and Dodona never gave. We might as well omit to study Nature because she is old. Henry David Thoreau
The success of great scholars and thinkers is commonly a courtier-like success, not kingly, not manly. Henry David Thoreau
A perfectly healthy sentence, it is true, is extremely rare. For the most part we miss the hue and fragrance of the thought; as if we could be satisfied with the dews of the morning or evening without their colors, or the heavens without their azure. Henry David Thoreau
The language of excitement is at best picturesque merely. You must be calm before you can utter oracles. Henry David Thoreau
The very thrills of genius are disorganizing. The body is never quite acclimated to its atmosphere, but how often, succumbs and goes into a decline. Henry David Thoreau
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end. Henry David Thoreau
Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth. Henry David Thoreau
Most people dread finding out when they come to die that they have never really lived. Henry David Thoreau
Some creatures are made to see in the dark. Henry David Thoreau
The most primitive places left with us are the swamps, where the spruce still grows shaggy with usnea. Henry David Thoreau
A man of fine perceptions is more truly feminine than a merely sentimental woman. Henry David Thoreau
It is not enough to be a hardworking person. Equally important is the job you are working at Henry David Thoreau
Be true to your work, your word, and your friend. Henry David Thoreau
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day. Henry David Thoreau
Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence. Henry David Thoreau
What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. Henry David Thoreau
Let us not underrate the value of a fact; it will one day flower in a truth. It is astonishing how few facts of importance are added in a century to the natural history of any animal. The natural history of man himself is still being gradually written. Henry David Thoreau
The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribably as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched. Henry David Thoreau
Nothing can be more useful to you than a determination not to be hurried. Henry David Thoreau
The progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual. Henry David Thoreau
The savage in man is never quite eradicated. Henry David Thoreau