I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one.

Life consists with wildness. The most alive is the wildest. Not yet subdued to man, its presence refreshes him.

The stars are the jewels of the night, and perchance surpass anything which day has to show.

In the religion of all nations a purity is hinted at, which, I fear, men never attain to.

For many years I was a self-appointed inspector of snowstorms and rainstorms and did my duty faithfully, though I never received payment for it.

He who cannot exaggerate is not qualified to utter truth.

I did not go to Boston, for with regard to that place I sympathize with one of my neighbors, an old man, who has not been there since the last war, when he was compelled to go. No, I have a real genius for staying at home.