We are not what we are, nor do we treat or esteem each other for such, but for what we are capable of being.
Henry David ThoreauHow does it become a man to behave towards the American government today? I answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.
Henry David ThoreauAs we grow older, we live more coarsely, we relax a little in our disciplines, and, to some extent, cease to obey our finest instincts. But we should be fastidious to the extreme of sanity, disregarding the gibes of those who are more unfortunate than ourselves.
Henry David ThoreauI am not afraid that I shall exaggerate the value and significance of life, but that I shall not be up to the occasion which it is.
Henry David ThoreauWho that has heard a strain of music feared then lest he should speak extravagantly any more forever?
Henry David ThoreauThey will tell you tough stories of sharks all over the Cape, which I do not presume to doubt utterly,--how they will sometimes upset a boat, or tear it in pieces, to get at the man in it. I can easily believe in the undertow, but I have no doubt that one shark in a dozen years is enough to keep up the reputation of a beach a hundred miles long.
Henry David Thoreau