Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreauwas an American essayist, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian. A leading transcendentalist, Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Resistance to Civil Government, an argument for disobedience to an unjust state...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth12 July 1817
CountryUnited States of America
book reading dozen
Books that are books are all that you want, and there are but a half dozen in any thousand.
memories believe past
We believe that the possibility of the future far exceeds the accomplishment of the past. We review the past with the common sense, but we anticipate the future with transcendental senses. In our sanest moments we find ourselves naturally expecting or prepared for far greater changes than any which we have experienced within the period of distinct memory, only to be paralleled by experiences which are forgotten.
mean men law
Law never made man a whit more just; and by means of their respect for it, even the well disposed are daily made agents of injustice.
truth joy perception
In all perception of the truth there is a divine ecstasy, an inexpressible delirium of joy, as when a youth embraces his betrothed virgin.
philosophy discipline forever
No method nor discipline can supersede the necessity of being forever on the alert. What is a course of history, or philosophy, or poetry, or the most admirable routine of life, compared with the discipline of looking always at what is to be seen? Will you be a reader, a student merely, or a seer?
thinking appreciate solitude
In solitude especialy do we begin to appreciate the advantage of living with someone who can think.
men honor he-man
The man who is dissatisfied with himself, what can he do?
order understanding world
Sometimes you have to leave the world in order to learn how to live in it. Thoreau shunned society, went to the woods, and came back with a new understanding of life.
simple realizing simple-living
Oh to reach the point of death and realize one has not lived at all.
running men risk
A man sits as many risks as he runs.
adventure simplicity theme
My themes will not be far-fetched. I will tell of homely every-day phenomena and adventures.
simplicity littles
The rule is to carry as little as possible.
simple simplicity use
To what end do I lead a simple life at all, pray? That I may teach others to simplify their lives? - and so all our lives be simplified merely, like an algebraic formula? Or not, rather, that I may make use of the ground I have cleared to live more worthily and profitably?
ignorance simplicity laziness
The savage lives simply through ignorance and idleness or laziness, but the philosopher lives simply through wisdom.