Henry David Thoreau
Knowledge
"Knowledge is real only when it is aquired by the efforts of your intellect, not by memory.
Only when we forget what we have been taught do we start to have real knowledge"
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
truth - money - fame
“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.”
― Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
dreams imagination success
“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
― Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
look see matters
“It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.”
― Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
look back plan
“Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.”
― Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
yourself idea somebody else
“be yourself- not your idea of what you think somebody else's idea of yourself should be.”
― Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
behind ahead within
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.”
― Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
good things wild free
“All good things are wild and free.”
― Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
god alone devil legion
“God is alone,-but the devil, he is far from being alone; he sees a great deal of company; he is legion.”
― Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
vain sit write stood live life
“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
woods live deliberately fact learn die
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms...”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
dreams touchstone character
“Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
life fritter detail simplify simple
“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
compliment ask thought attention answer
“The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
born forced breathe fashion strongest
“I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
disobedience foundation liberty obedient slaves
“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
change things we
“Things do not change; we change.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
fool rule mind
“Any fool can make a rule
And any fool will mind it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
fashion old new generation laugh follow religiously
“Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
hay have ought truth make-believe
“Say what you have to say, not what you ought. Any truth is better than make-believe.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
three chairs solitude friendship society
“I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
path lest resistence lead crooked rivers men
“The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
men become tool
“Men have become the tools of their tools.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
born innocent polluted advice
“We are born as innocents. We are polluted by advice.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
education straight-cut ditch free meandering brook
“What does education often do? It makes a straight-cut ditch of a free, meandering brook.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
hire man work money love
“Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
cost life exchange
"The cost of a thing is the amount of what I call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run."
—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
walking preserve health spirit saunter woods hills fields
“I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits,
unless I spend four hours a day at least
—and it is commonly more than that—
sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields,
absolutely free from all worldly engagements.”
― Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)