Henry David Thoreau

Whatever the human law may be, neither an individual nor a nation can commit the least act of injustice against the obscurest individual without having to pay the penalty for it.

We seem but to linger in manhood to tell the dreams of our childhood, and they vanish out of memory ere we learn the language.

An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

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.

A man thinks as well through his legs and arms as this brain.

The things most people want to know about are usually none of their business.

The arts and inventions of each period are only its costume, and do not invigorate men.

The public is the only critic whose opinion is worth anything at all.

The American Constitution, one of the few modern political documents drawn up by men who were forced by the sternest circumstances to think out what they really had to face, instead of chopping logic in a university classroom.

Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.

O friend, never strike sail to a fear! Come into port greatly, or sail with God the seas.

Blows are sarcasm’s turned stupid.

We are afraid to care too much, for fear that the other person does not care at all.

For knowledge itself is power.

City life is millions of people being lonesome together.

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.

The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.

The best armor is to keep out of gunshot.

Ahh, that mountain of self-discovery. Every time you have reached the summit, the clouds clear and you see there is still a ways to go. Don’t look up with thoughts of despair; thinking how much further do I have to go?! Take a moment and look back to see how far you have come. Don’t lose sight of your accomplishments, and focus on the continued commitment to self-discovery and development.

The future is purchased by the present.