I trust that some may be as near and dear to Buddha, or Christ, or Swedenborg, who are without the pale of their churches.

What is peculiar in the life of a man consists not in his obedience, but his opposition, to his instincts. In one direction or another he strives to live a supernatural life.

At least let us have healthy books.

The foul slime stands for the sloth and vice of man, the decay of humanity; the fragrant flower that springs from it, for the purity and courage which are immortal.

We live thick and are in each other's way, and stumble over one another, and I think we thus lose some respect for one another.

I once found a kernel of corn in the middle of a deep wood by Walden, tucked in behind a lichen on a pine, about as high as my head, either by a crow or a squirrel. It was a mile at least from any corn-field.

If the laborer gets no more than the wages which his employer pays him, he is cheated, he cheats himself.