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.'

It's the beauty within us that makes it possible for us to recognize the beauty around us. The question is not what you look at but what you see. Henry David Thoreau
It is the greatest of all advantages to enjoy no advantage at all. Henry David Thoreau
The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men. Henry David Thoreau
Two sturdy oaks I mean, which side by side, / Withstand the winter's storm, / And spite of wind and tide, / Grow up the meadow's pride, / For both are strong / Above they barely touch, but undermined / Down to their deepest source, / Admiring you shall find / Their roots are intertwined / Insep'rably. Henry David Thoreau
Improve every opportunity to be melancholy. Henry David Thoreau
Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment. Henry David Thoreau
Renew thyself completely each day. Henry David Thoreau
It is not worth the while to let our imperfections disturb us always. Henry David Thoreau
As for the pyramids, there is nothing to wonder at in them so much as the fact that so many men could be found degraded enough to spend their lives constructing a tomb for some ambitious booby, whom it would have been wiser and manlier to have drowned in the Nile, and then given his body to the dogs. Henry David Thoreau
A broad margin of leisure is as beautiful in a man's life as in a book. Henry David Thoreau
Be not anxious to avoid poverty. In this way the wealth of the universe may be securely invested. Henry David Thoreau
Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new. Henry David Thoreau
Man's moral nature is a riddle which only eternity can solve. Henry David Thoreau
Christ is the prince of Reformers and Radicals. Henry David Thoreau
The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer. Henry David Thoreau
If there were one who lived wholly without the use of money, the State itself would hesitate to demand it of him. But the rich man—not to make any invidious comparison—is always sold to the institution which makes him rich.... Thus his moral ground is taken from under his feet. Henry David Thoreau
The rich man is always sold to the institution which makes him rich. Absolutely speaking, the more money, the less virtue. Henry David Thoreau
After the first blush of sin comes its indifference. Henry David Thoreau
Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain. Henry David Thoreau
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. Henry David Thoreau
What wealth is it to have such friends that we cannot think of them without elevation. Henry David Thoreau
Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only indispensible, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind. Henry David Thoreau
Do not be too moral. You might cheat yourself out of much life. Aim high above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something. Henry David Thoreau
The mass never comes up to the standard of its best member, but on the contrary degrades itself to a level with the lowest. Henry David Thoreau
There has always been the same amount of light in the world. The new and missing stars, the comets and eclipses, do not affect the general illumination, for only our glasses appreciate them. Henry David Thoreau
A man can suffocate on courtesy. Henry David Thoreau
The hawk is aerial brother of the wave which he sails over and surveys, those his perfect air-inflated wings answering to the elemental unfledged pinions of the sea. Henry David Thoreau
When I consider that the noble animals have been exterminated here - the cougar, panther, lynx, wolverine, wolf, bear, moose, deer, the beaver, the turkey, etc, etc - I cannot but feel as I lived in a tamed, and, as it were, emasculated country. Henry David Thoreau
Our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed in them. Henry David Thoreau
Even the elephant carries but a small trunk on his journeys. The perfection of traveling is to travel without baggage. Henry David Thoreau