Henry David Thoreau

I have received no more than one or two letters in my life that were worth the postage.

The works of the great poets have never yet been read by mankind, for only great poets can read them.

Goodness is the only investment which never fails.

We know but a few men, a great many coats and breeches.

We are eager to tunnel under the Atlantic and bring the Old World some weeks nearer to the New; but perchance the first news that will leak through into the broad, flapping American ear will be that the Princess Adelaide has the whooping cough.

The way by which you may get money almost without exception leads downward.

Self-denial is not a virtue, it is only the effect of prudence on rascality.

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.

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.

For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.

Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit for new projects than for settled business.

Always play like an underdog.

Broken, like a mosaic, I am pieced together. I am still a piece of art, though I may not be fully appreciated by all, the ones that see the beauty, are the ones who have the understanding; gained through experience, that to break, doesn’t mean to give up.

An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.

The liar’s punishment is, not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.

A lawyers dream of heaven; every man reclaimed his property at the resurrection, and each tried to recover it from all his forefathers.

Every other enjoyment malice may destroy; every other panegyric envy may withhold; but no human power can deprive the boaster of his own encomiums.

The bluebird carries the sky on his back.

The surest poison is time.

We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.

You are perfect. An exquisitely fine work of art, labor of love, suspended in silence. Bejeweled, trembling, kissed by a breeze, mesmerized by your beauty. You await in silence, beckoning me to a silken-wrapped slumber.