The chimney is to some extent an independent structure, standing on the ground, and rising through the house to the heavens; evenafter the house is burned it still stands sometimes, and its importance and independence are apparent.
Henry David ThoreauIf you are a seer, whenever you meet a man you will see all that he owns, ay, and much that he pretends to disown, behind him.
Henry David ThoreauMost people dread finding out when they come to die that they have never really lived.
Henry David ThoreauDo what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.
Henry David ThoreauSo behave that the odor of your actions may enhance the general sweetness of the atmosphere, that when we behold or scent a flower, we may not be reminded how inconsistent your deeds are with it; for all odor is but one form of advertisement of a moral quality, and if fair actions had not been performed, the lily would not smell sweet. The foul slime stands for the sloth and vice of man, the decay of humanity; the fragrant flower that springs from it, for the purity and courage which are immortal.
Henry David Thoreau