Quotes by Henry David Thoreau

About Henry David Thoreau:

Henry David Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Resistance to Civil Government (also known as Civil Disobedience), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

There is no just and serene criticism as yet.

Henry David Thoreau

Do what nobody else can do for you. Omit to do anything else.

Henry David Thoreau

We are not what we are, nor do we treat or esteem each other for such, but for what we are capable of being.

Henry David Thoreau

If a man constantly aspires is he not elevated?

Henry David Thoreau

There never was and is not likely soon to be a nation of philosophers, nor am I certain it is desirable that there should be.

Henry David Thoreau

Night is certainly more novel and less profane than day.

Henry David Thoreau

How can any man be weak who dares to be at all?

Henry David Thoreau

I have been as sincere a worshipper of Aurora as the Greeks.

Henry David Thoreau

I have found that hollow, which even I had relied on for solid.

Henry David Thoreau

The man who is dissatisfied with himself, what can he do?

Henry David Thoreau

The fibers of all things have their tension and are strained like the strings of an instrument.

Henry David Thoreau

There is but one stage for the peasant and the actor.

Henry David Thoreau

Some are reputed sick and some are not. It often happens that the sicker man is the nurse to the sounder.

Henry David Thoreau

How many things there are concerning which we might well deliberate whether we had better know them.

Henry David Thoreau

I have found that no exertion of the legs can bring two minds much nearer to one another.

Henry David Thoreau

Front yards are not made to walk in, but, at most, through, and you could go in the back way.

Henry David Thoreau

Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.

Henry David Thoreau

In the meanest are all the materials of manhood, only they are not rightly disposed.

Henry David Thoreau

Only that day dawns to which we are awake.

Henry David Thoreau

I was more independent than any farmer in Concord, for I was not anchored to a house or farm, but could follow the bent of my genius, which is a very crooked one, every moment.

Henry David Thoreau

There is just as much beauty visible to us in the landscape as we are prepared to appreciate, and not a grain more. ... A man sees only what concerns him.

Henry David Thoreau

Author Bio

  • NameHenry David Thoreau
  • Description1817-1862 American author, abolitionist, naturalist
  • BornJuly 12, 1817
  • DiedMay 6, 1862
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionWriter; Poet; Philosopher; Essayist; Autobiographer