It is a very true and expressive phrase, "He looked daggers at me," for the first pattern and prototype of all daggers must have been a glance of the eye.... It is wonderful how we get about the streets without being wounded by these delicate and glancing weapons, a man can so nimbly whip out his rapier, or without being noticed carry it unsheathed. Yet it is rare that one gets seriously looked at.
Henry David ThoreauIt is strange to talk of miracles, revelations, inspiration, and the like, as things past, while love remains.
Henry David ThoreauWe now no longer camp as for a night, but have settled down on earth and forgotten heaven.
Henry David ThoreauI hate the present modes of living and getting a living. Farming and shopkeeping and working at a trade or profession are all odious to me. I should relish getting my living in a simple, primitive fashion.
Henry David ThoreauA wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.
Henry David ThoreauThe greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.
Henry David ThoreauI do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves Abolitionists should at once effectually withdraw their support, both inperson and property, from the government of Massachusetts, and not wait until they constitute a majority of one, before they suffer the right to prevail through them. I think that it is enough if they have God on their side, without waiting for that other one. Moreover, any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already.
Henry David Thoreau