Whatever appeals to the imagination, by transcending the ordinary limits of human ability, wonderfully encourages and liberates us.

Ennui shortens life, and bereaves the day of its light.

Echo waits with art and care And will the faults of song repair.

For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail?

The basis of good manners is self-reliance. Necessity is the law of all who are not self-possessed.

As I walked in the woods I felt what I often feel that nothing can befall me in life, no calamity, no disgrace (leaving me my eyes) to which Nature will not offer a sweet consolation. Standing on the bare ground with my head bathed by the blithe air, & uplifted into the infinite space, I become happy in my universal relations. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign & accidental. I am the heir of uncontained beauty and power.

That which builds is better than that which is built.