In civilization, as in a southern latitude, man degenerates at length, and yields to the incursion of more northern tribes.
Henry David ThoreauIt often happens that a man is more humanely related to a cat or dog than to any human being.
Henry David ThoreauThe life of a good man will hardly improve us more than the life of a freebooter, for the inevitable laws appear as plainly in theinfringement as in the observance, and our lives are sustained by a nearly equal expense of virtue of some kind. The decaying tree, while yet it lives, demands sun, wind, and rain no less than the green one. It secretes sap and performs the functions of health. If we choose, we may study the alburnum only. The gnarled stump has as tender a bud as the sapling.
Henry David Thoreau