Henry David Thoreau

I was born upon thy bank, river, my blood flows in thy stream, and thou meanderest forever. At the bottom of my dream.

Nowadays the host does not admit you to his hearth, but has got the mason to build one for yourself somewhere in his alley, and hospitality is the art of keeping you at the greatest distance.

To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust. It is to solve some of the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically.

If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.

I would give all the wealth of the world, and all the deeds of all the heroes, for one true vision.

Glances of true beauty can be seen in the faces of those who live in true meekness.

Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy.

The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year.

When you cannot get a compliment in any other way pay yourself one.

All I say is, kings is kings, and you got to make allowances. Take them all around, they’re a mighty ornery lot. It’s the way they’re raised.

If you do not take control over your time and your life, other people will gobble it up. If you don’t prioritize yourself, you constantly start falling lower and lower on your list.

In this country it is a good thing to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.

I believe we are still so innocent. The species are still so innocent that a person who is apt to be murdered believes that the murderer, just before he puts the final wrench on his throat, will have enough compassion to give him one sweet cup of water.

Poverty is often concealed in splendor, and often in extravagance. It is the task of many people to conceal their neediness from others. Consequently they support themselves by temporary means, and everyday is lost in contriving for tomorrow.

I am not bound over to swear allegiance to any master; where the storm drives me I turn in for shelter.

The world is upheld by the veracity of good men: they make the earth wholesome. They who lived with them found life glad and nutritious. Life is sweet and tolerable only in our belief in such society.

In his private heart no man much respects himself.

The little may contrast with the great, in painting, but cannot be said to be contrary to it. Oppositions of colors contrast; but there are also colors contrary to each other, that is, which produce an ill effect because they shock the eye when brought very near it.

Don’t call a woman a bitch. Call her an ass-hole. It still gets your point across and it’s not sexist.

If you are good, life is good.

I hate a fellow whom pride, or cowardice, or laziness drives into a corner, and who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl; let him come out as I do, and bark.