I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond-side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still quite distinct. It is true, I fear that others may have fallen into it, and so helped to keep it open. The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity!
Henry David ThoreauAll endeavour calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil.
Henry David ThoreauIn ancient days the Pythagoreans were used to change names with each other,--fancying that each would share the virtues they admired in the other.
Henry David ThoreauIf a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.
Henry David ThoreauMy profession is to be always on the alert to find God in nature, to know his lurking-places, to attend all the oratorios, the operas in nature.
Henry David Thoreau