All nations love the same jests and tales, Jews, Christians, and Mahometans, and the same translated suffice for all.
Henry David ThoreauEach reader discovers for himself that, with respect to the simpler features of nature, succeeding poets have done little else than copy his similes.
Henry David ThoreauThe word which is best said came nearest to not being spoken at all, for it is cousin to a deed which the speaker could have better done. Nay, almost it must have taken the place of a deed by some urgent necessity, even by some misfortune, so that the truest writer will be some captive knight, after all. And perhaps the fates had such a design, when, having stored Raleigh so richly with the substance of life and experience, they made him a fast prisoner, and compelled him to make his words his deeds, and transfer to his expression the emphasis and sincerity of his action.
Henry David Thoreau