I fear that he who walks over these fields a century hence will not know the pleasure of knocking off wild apples. Ah, poor man, there are many pleasures which he will not know!
Henry David ThoreauThe very thrills of genius are disorganizing. The body is never quite acclimated to its atmosphere, but how often, succumbs and goes into a decline.
Henry David ThoreauIt is said that a rogue does not look you in the face, neither does an honest man look at you as if he had his reputation to establish.
Henry David ThoreauDirect your eye inward, and you'll find / A thousand regions in your mind / Yet undiscovered. Travel them, and be / Expert in home-cosmography
Henry David ThoreauI have thoroughly tried school-keeping, and found that my expenses were in proportion, or rather out of proportion, to my income,for I was obliged to dress and train, not to say think and believe, accordingly, and I lost my time into the bargain. As I did not teach for the good of my fellow-men, but simply for a livelihood, this was a failure. I have tried trade; but I found that it would take ten years to get under way in that, and that then I should probably be on my way to the devil. I was actually afraid that I might by that time be doing what is called a good business.
Henry David ThoreauHowever much we admire the orator's occasional bursts of eloquence, the noblest written words are commonly as far behind or abovethe fleeting spoken language as the firmament with its stars is behind the clouds.
Henry David ThoreauFar travel, very far travel, or travail, comes near to the worth of staying at home.
Henry David ThoreauWhat is a country without rabbits and partridges? They are among the most simple and indigenous animal products; ancient and venerable families known to antiquity as to modern times; of the very hue and substance of Nature, nearest allied to leaves and to the ground.
Henry David ThoreauAlmost any mode of observation will be successful at last, for what is most wanted is method.
Henry David ThoreauA Friend is one who incessantly pays us the compliment of expecting from us all the virtues, and who can appreciate them in us.
Henry David ThoreauAll change is a miracle to contemplate, but it is a miracle which is taking place every instant.
Henry David ThoreauA bore is someone who takes away my solitude and doesn't give me companionship in return.
Henry David ThoreauAs naturally as the oak bears an acorn and the vine a gourd, man bears a poem, either spoken or done.
Henry David ThoreauYou must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.
Henry David ThoreauWhat a fool he must be who thinks that his El Dorado is anywhere but where he lives.
Henry David ThoreauEvery sunset which I witness inspires me with the desire to go to a west as distant and as fair as that into which the Sun goes down. He appears to migrate westward daily and tempt us to follow him. He is the Great Western Pioneer whom the nations follow. We dream all night of those mountain ridges in the horizon, though they may be of vapor only, which were last gilded by his rays.
Henry David ThoreauAlmost any man knows how to earn money, but not one in a million knows how to spend it.
Henry David ThoreauMany college text-books, which were a weariness and stumbling-block when I studied, I have since read a little with pleasure and profit.
Henry David ThoreauIf a man were to place himself in an attitude to bear manfully the greatest evil that can be inflicted on him, he would find suddenly that there was no such evil to bear; his brave back would go a-begging.
Henry David ThoreauI bought me a spy-glass some weeks since. I buy but a few things, and those not till long after I begin to want them, so that when I do get them I am prepared to make a perfect use of them and extract their whole sweet.
Henry David ThoreauIf there is nothing new on the earth, still the traveler always has a resource in the skies. They are constantly turning a new page to view. The wind sets the types on this blue ground, and the inquiring may always read a new truth there.
Henry David ThoreauThe still youthful energies of the globe have only to be directed in their proper channel.
Henry David ThoreauStrange that so few ever come to the woods to see how the pine lives and grows and spires, lifting its evergreen arms to the light,--to see its perfect success; but most are content to behold it in the shape of many broad boards brought to market, and deem that its true success! But the pine is no more lumber than man is, and to be made into boards and houses is no more its true and highest use than the truest use of a man is to be cut down and made into manure.
Henry David ThoreauThe mode of clearing and planting is to fell the trees, and burn once what will burn, then cut them up into suitable lengths, rollinto heaps, and burn again; then, with a hoe, plant potatoes where you can come at the ground between the stumps and charred logs; for a first crop the ashes suffice for manure, and no hoeing being necessary the first year. In the fall, cut, roll, and burn again, and so on, till the land is cleared; and soon it is ready for grain, and to be laid down.
Henry David Thoreau