It is reasonable that a man should be something worthier at the end of the year than he was at the beginning.
Henry David ThoreauThe condition-of-England question is a practical one. The condition of England demands a hero, not a poet.
Henry David ThoreauAlways the laws of light are the same, but the modes and degrees of seeing vary.
Henry David ThoreauMorning work! By the blushes of Aurora and the music of Memnon, what should be man's morning work in this world?
Henry David ThoreauWhat stuff is the man made of who is not coexistent in our thought with the purest and sublimest truth?
Henry David ThoreauIt is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support. If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man's shoulders.
Henry David Thoreau