I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born.

Though the hen should sit all day, she could lay only one egg, and, besides, would not have picked up materials for another.

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

This is one of those instances in which the individual genius is found to consent, as indeed it always does, at last, with the universal.

I have hardly begun to live on Staten Island yet; but, like the man who, when forbidden to tread on English ground, carried Scottish ground in his boots, I carry Concord ground in my boots and in my hat,--and am I not made of Concord dust? I cannot realize that it is the roar of the sea I hear now, and not the wind in Walden woods. I find more of Concord, after all, in the prospect of the sea, beyond Sandy Hook, than in the fields and woods.

All change is a miracle to contemplate, but it is a miracle which is taking place every instant.

We are ashamed of our fear; for we know that a righteous man would not suspect danger nor incur any. Wherever a man feels fear, there is an avenger.