It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.
Henry David ThoreauThere have been some nations who could do nothing but construct tombs, and these are the only traces which they have left. They are the heathen.
Henry David ThoreauFriends will be much apart. They will respect more each other's privacy than their communion.
Henry David ThoreauI often accuse my finest acquaintances of an immense frivolity; for, while there are manners and compliments we do not meet, we donot teach one another the lessons of honesty and sincerity that the brutes do, or of steadiness and solidity that the rocks do. The fault is commonly mutual; however, for we do not habitually demand any more of each other.
Henry David Thoreau