Henry David Thoreau Quotes & Sayings (Page 7)

“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.”

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.”

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

“Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it.”

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.”

“A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.”

“There is one consolation in being sick; and that is the possibility that you may recover to a better state than you were ever in before.”

“Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.”

“Our life is frittered away by detail... simplify, simplify.”

“The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.”