Henry David Thoreau quotes - page 19

No man with a genius for legislation has appeared in America. They are rare in the history of the world. There are orators, politicians, and eloquent men, by the thousand; but the speaker has not yet opened his mouth to speak who is capable of settling the much-vexed questions of the day. (Henry David Thoreau)
There are other letters for the child to learn than those which Cadmus invented. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
Go where we will on the surface of things, men have been there before us. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
I am as desirous of being a good neighbor as I am of being a bad subject. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
And now, at half-past ten o'clock, I hear the cockerels crow in Hubbard's barns, and morning is already anticipated. It is the feathered, wakeful thought in us that anticipates the following day. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe - "That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
As we passed under the last bridge over the canal, just before reaching the Merrimack, the people coming out of church paused to look at us from above, and apparently, so strong is custom, indulged in some heathenish comparisons; but we were the truest observers of this sunny day. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
You must love the crust of the earth on which you dwell more than the sweet crust of any bread or cake; you must be able to extract nutriment out of a sand heap. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
Merely to come into the world the heir of a fortune is not to be born, but to be still-born, rather. To be supported by the charity of friends, or a government-pension, - provided you continue to breathe, - by whatever fine synonymes you describe these relations, is to go into the almshouse. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
Gradually the village murmur subsided, and we seemed to be embarked on the placid current of our dreams, floating from past to future as silently as one awakes to fresh morning or evening thoughts. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
I am here to plead his cause with you. I plead not for his life, but for his character - his immortal life; and so it becomes your cause wholly, and is not his in the least. Some eighteen hundred years ago Christ was crucified; this morning, perchance, Captain Brown was hung. These are the two ends of a chain which is not without its links. He is not Old Brown any longer; he is an angel of light. (Henry David Thoreau)
The Grecian are youthful and erring and fallen gods, with the vices of men, but in many important respects essentially of the divine race. In my Pantheon, Pan still reigns in his pristine glory, with his ruddy face, his flowing beard, and his shaggy body, his pipe and his crook, his nymph Echo, and his chosen daughter Iambe; for the great god Pan is not dead, as was rumored. No god ever dies. Perhaps of all the gods of New England and of ancient Greece, I am most constant at his shrine. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
When our life ceases to be inward and private, conversation degenerates into mere gossip. We rarely meet a man who can tell us any news which he has not read in a newspaper, or been told by his neighbor; and, for the most part, the only difference between us and our fellow is, that he has seen the newspaper, or been out to tea, and we have not. In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post-office. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
The finest manners in the world are awkwardness and fatuity, when contrasted with a finer intelligence. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
To speak impartially, the best men that I know are not serene, a world in themselves. For the most part, they dwell in forms, and flatter and study effect only more finely than the rest. We select granite for the underpinning of our houses and barns; we build fences of stone; but we do not ourselves rest on an underpinning of granitic truth, the lowest primitive rock. Our sills are rotten. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
He would have left a Greek accent slanting the wrong way, and righted up a falling man. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
It is so rare to meet with a man out-doors who cherishes a worthy thought in his mind, which is independent of the labor of his hands. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
I do not wish to force my thoughts upon you, but I feel forced myself. Little as I know of Captain Brown, I would fain do my part to correct the tone and the statements of the newspapers, and of my countrymen generally, respecting his character and actions. It costs us nothing to be just. We can at least express our sympathy with, and admiration of, him and his companions, and that is what I now propose to do. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
The life that I aspire to live No man proposeth me- No trade upon the street Wears its emblazonry. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
He who gives himself entirely to his fellow-men appears to them useless and selfish; but he who gives himself partially to them is pronounced a benefactor and philanthropist. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
As if our birth had at first sundered things, and we had been thrust up through into nature like a wedge, and not till the wound heals and the scar disappears, do we begin to discover where we are, and that nature is one and continuous everywhere. (Henry David Thoreau)
The lawyer's truth is not Truth, but consistency or a consistent expediency. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
Don't be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
To be admitted to Nature's hearth costs nothing. None is excluded, but excludes himself. You have only to push aside the curtain. View quote
Henry David Thoreau
I have a great deal of company in the house, especially in the morning when nobody calls. View quote
Henry David Thoreau