If it is surely the means to the highest end we know, can any work be humble or disgusting? Will it not rather be elevating as a ladder, the means by which we are translated?

Quote by Henry David Thoreau

Topics: Henry David Thoreau Quotes

It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit,...

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit,...

As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.

As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.

Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he...

Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he...

Good poetry seems too simple and natural a thing that when we meet it we...

Good poetry seems too simple and natural a thing that when we meet it we...

There is no remedy for love but to love more.

There is no remedy for love but to love more.

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up...

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up...

As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will...

As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will...

As if there were safety in stupidity alone.

As if there were safety in stupidity alone.

It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.

It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.

None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.

None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.

It is what a man thinks of himself that really determines his fate.

It is what a man thinks of himself that really determines his fate.

If you have built castles in the air; your work need not be lost; that...

If you have built castles in the air; your work need not be lost; that...

Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things....

Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things....

Fame is not just. She never finely or discriminatingly praises, but coarsely hurrahs.

Fame is not just. She never finely or discriminatingly praises, but coarsely hurrahs.

It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a...

It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a...

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate...

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate...

There is no just and serene criticism as yet.

There is no just and serene criticism as yet.

Books are to be distinguished by the grandeur of their topics even more than by...

Books are to be distinguished by the grandeur of their topics even more than by...

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

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