The tops of mountains are among the unfinished parts of the globe, whither it is a slight insult to the gods to climb and pry intotheir secrets, and try their effect on our humanity. Only daring and insolent men, perchance, go there. Simple races, as savages, do not climb mountains,--their tops are sacred and mysterious tracts never visited by them. Pomola is always angry with those who climb the summit of Ktaadn.
Henry David ThoreauFriends will be much apart. They will respect more each other's privacy than their communion.
Henry David ThoreauEspecially the transcendental philosophy needs the leaven of humor to render it light and digestible.
Henry David ThoreauOnly he is successful in his business who makes that pursuit which affords him the highest pleasure sustain him.
Henry David ThoreauTo say that God has given a man many and great talents frequently means that he has brought his heavens down within reach of his hands.
Henry David ThoreauBooks are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. Books, the oldest and the best, stand naturally and rightfully on the shelves of every cottage. They have no cause of their own to plead, but while they enlighten and sustain the reader his common sense will not refuse them. Their authors are a natural and irresistible aristocracy in every society, and, more than kings or emperors, exert an influence on mankind.
Henry David Thoreau