Henry David Thoreau

Love must be as much a light, as it is a flame.

We need the tonic of wildness…At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.

Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.

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

If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.

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

Of all the anti-social vested interests the worst is the vested interest in ill-health.

No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by drinkers of water.

How much of human life is lost in waiting.

If we want maturity, we have to be mature. If we want a nation that feels hopeful, then we have to speak in hopeful terms… We have to model what we want.

The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice.

Count on it, if a person talks of their misfortune, there is something in it that is not disagreeable to them.

We aim above the mark to hit the mark.

The intuitive recognition of the instant, thus reality… is the highest act of wisdom.

I like not only to be loved, but also to be told that I am loved. I am not sure that you are of the same mind. But the realm of silence is large enough beyond the grave. This is the world of light and speech, and I shall take leave to tell you that you are very dear.

To the dull mind all nature is leaden. To the illumined mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light.

Bravery has no place where it can avail nothing.

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.

Prosperity is the best protector of principle.

What you can’t pay back you pay forward.

A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.