On the 31st of August, 1846, I left Concord in Massachusetts for Bangor and the backwoods of Maine,... I proposed to make excursions to Mount Ktaadn, the second highest mountain in New England, about thirty miles distant, and to some of the lakes of the Penobscot, either alone or with such company as I might pick up there.

A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.

I have thought there was some advantage even in death, by which we mingle with the herd of common men.

I find it so difficult to dispose of the few facts which to me are significant, that I hesitate to burden my attention with thosewhich are insignificant, which only a divine mind could illustrate. Such is, for the most part, the news in newspapers and conversation.

What an admirable training is science for the more active warfare of life! Indeed, the unchallenged bravery which these studies imply, is far more impressive than the trumpeted valor of the warrior.

Behave so the aroma of your actions may enhance the general sweetness of the atmosphere.

The chief want, in every state that I have been into, was a high and earnest purpose in its inhabitants.