Henry David Thoreau

A broad margin of leisure is as beautiful in a man’s life as in a book. Haste makes waste, no less in life than in housekeeping. Keep the time, observe the hours of the universe, not of the cars.

I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good;be good for something.All fables, indeed, have their morals; but the innocent enjoy the story. Let nothing come between you and the light. Respect men and brothers only. When you travel to the Celestial City, carry no letter of introduction. When you knock, ask to see God,

I have found it to be the most serious objection to coarse labors long continued, that they compelled me to eat and drink coarsely also.

The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend.

If I seem to boast more than is becoming, my excuse is that I brag for humanity rather than for myself.

It is a brave thing to have courage to be an individual; it is also, perhaps, a lonely thing. But it is better than not being an individual, which is to be nobody at all.

It is the amends of a short and troublesome life, that doing good and suffering ill entitles man to a longer and better

Give, even if you only have little.

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

A fly may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still.

Tis the good reader that makes the good book; in every book he finds passages which seem to be confidences or sides hidden from all else and unmistakably meant for his ear; the profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader; the profound thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until it is discovered by an equal mind and heart.

He is rich who is content with the least; for contentment is the wealth of nature.

If all the economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion.

Haven’t you learned yet that I put something more than whisky into my speeches.

Pit race against race, religion against religion, prejudice against prejudice. Divide and conquer! We must not let that happen here.

The drama’s laws, the drama’s patrons give, for we that live to please, must please to live.

A perfectly healthy sentence, it is true, is extremely rare. For the most part we miss the hue and fragrance of the thought; as if we could be satisfied with the dews of the morning or evening without their colors, or the heavens without their azure.

The time has come to shed this skin. Its cloying inconvenience doesn’t fit me anymore. My new attire strikes color, shine, shadow, makes noise, and may put your teeth on edge. Tough sh–. Get used to it. I’m inviting you to step into your fear and dance with life.

Wear none of thine own Chains; but keep free, whilst thou art free.

Work is always an antidote to depression.