Henry David Thoreau

United States
12 Jul 1817 // 6 May 1862
Writer / Author / Poet

Quotes

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No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true today may turn out to be falsehood tomorrow
To have done anything just for money is to have been truly idle
The heart is forever inexperienced
If I shall sell both my forenoons and afternoons to society, as most appear to do, I'm sure that, for me, there would be nothing left worth living for
That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest
To a philosopher all news, as it is called, is gossip, and they who edit it and read it are old women over their tea
Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes
Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul
The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him keep step to the music he hears, however measured and far away
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays