Nothing goes by luck in composition. It allows of no tricks. The best you can write will be the best you are.

Quote by Henry David Thoreau

Topics: Henry David Thoreau Quotes

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...

Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul.

Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul.

Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song...

Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song...

In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the...

In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the...

Before printing was discovered, a century was equal to a thousand years.

Before printing was discovered, a century was equal to a thousand years.

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

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

Only that day dawns to which we are awake.

Only that day dawns to which we are awake.

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the...

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the...

Government never furthered any enterprise but by the alacrity with which it got out of...

Government never furthered any enterprise but by the alacrity with which it got out of...

May we so love as never to have occasion to repent of our love!

May we so love as never to have occasion to repent of our love!

We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal and then leap in the...

We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal and then leap in the...

Simplify, simplify.

Simplify, simplify.

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they...

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they...

Live the life you've dreamed

Live the life you've dreamed

Beware of all enterprises that require a new set of clothes.

Beware of all enterprises that require a new set of clothes.

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

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

Where there is an observatory and a telescope, we expect that any eyes will see...

Where there is an observatory and a telescope, we expect that any eyes will see...

It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for law, so much as a respect...

It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for law, so much as a respect...

Laws are generally found to be nets of such a texture, as the little creep...

Laws are generally found to be nets of such a texture, as the little creep...

I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice...

I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice...