Henry David Thoreau quotes

Henry David Thoreau was an American writer, philosopher, and naturalist, best known for his book "Walden" and his essay "Civil Disobedience." His works have inspired movements for civil rights and environmentalism around the world. He remains a powerful influence on discussions about individual conscience and the relationship between humans and nature. Here are 857 of his quotes:

Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.

Henry David Thoreau

Things do not change; we change.

Henry David Thoreau

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.

Henry David Thoreau

Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it.

Henry David Thoreau

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.

Henry David Thoreau

Books must be read as deliberately and reservedly as they were written.

Henry David Thoreau

The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend.

Henry David Thoreau

As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.

Henry David Thoreau

That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.

Henry David Thoreau

Goodness is the only investment that never fails.

Henry David Thoreau

Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.

Henry David Thoreau

I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man.

Henry David Thoreau

In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood.

Henry David Thoreau

Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.

Henry David Thoreau

The world is but a canvas to the imagination.

Henry David Thoreau

What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?

Henry David Thoreau

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Henry David Thoreau

Men have become the tools of their tools.

Henry David Thoreau

Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.

Henry David Thoreau

In wilderness is the preservation of the world.

Henry David Thoreau

An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.

Henry David Thoreau

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.

Henry David Thoreau