Henry David Thoreau

I have a deep sympathy with war, it so apes the gait and bearing of the soul.

A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.

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.

To say that a man is your Friend, means commonly no more than this, that he is not your enemy. Most contemplate only what would be the accidental and trifling advantages of Friendship, as that the Friend can assist in time of need by his substance, or his influence, or his counsel. Even the utmost goodwill and harmony and practical kindness are not sufficient for Friendship, for Friends do not live in harmony merely, as some say, but in melody.

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

Sobriety, severity, and self-respect are the foundations of all true sociality.

He that complies against his will is of his own opinion still.

People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.

It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce.

Commerce is of trivial import; love, faith, truth of character, the aspiration of man, these are sacred.

Mountains will go into labour, and a silly little mouse will be born.

There are two great rules of life, the one general and the other particular. The first is that everyone can, in the end get what he wants if he only tries. This is the general rule. The particular rule is that every individual is more or less an exception to the general rule.

If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible.

For we put the power in the people.

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.

A man must make his opportunity, as oft as find it.

The love of economy is the root of all virtue.

The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.

Twenty to twenty-five! These are the years! Dont be content with things as they are. Dont take No for an answer. Never submit to failure. Do not be fobbed off with mere personal success or acceptance. You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true, and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. She was made to be wooed and won by youth. She has lived and thrived only by repeated subjugations.

There is no thought in any mind, but it quickly tends to convert itself into power.

What is so great as friendship, let us carry with what grandeur of spirit we can. Let us be silent, — so we may hear the whisper of the gods. Let us not interfere. Who set you to cast about what you should say to the select souls, or how to say any thing to such? No matter how ingenious, no matter how graceful and bland. There are innumerable degrees of folly and wisdom, and for you to say aught is to be frivolous. Wait, and thy heart shall speak. Wait until the necessary and everlasting overpowers you, until day and night avail themselves of your lips. The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.