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Henry David Thoreau

141 quotes

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) was an American essayist, poet, and philosopher best known for his book *Walden*, a reflection on simple living in natural surroundings. A leading transcendentalist, Thoreau championed individualism, civil disobedience, and a deep reverence for nature that continues to influence environmentalists and free thinkers to this day.

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“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Religion

All Quotes by Henry David Thoreau

“The language of excitement is at best picturesque merely. You must be calm before you can utter oracles.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Best

“Great men, unknown to their generation, have their fame among the great who have preceded them, and all true worldly fame subsides from their high estimate beyond the stars.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Great

“I have seen how the foundations of the world are laid, and I have not the least doubt that it will stand a good while.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Good

“All this worldly wisdom was once the unamiable heresy of some wise man.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Wisdom

“Dreams are the touchstones of our character.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Dreams

“Only he is successful in his business who makes that pursuit which affords him the highest pleasure sustain him.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Business

“'Tis healthy to be sick sometimes.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Health

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Life

“They can do without architecture who have no olives nor wines in the cellar.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Architecture

“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?”

— Henry David Thoreau

Great

“The lawyer's truth is not Truth, but consistency or a consistent expediency.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Truth

“Friends... they cherish one another's hopes. They are kind to one another's dreams.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Dreams

“There is danger that we lose sight of what our friend is absolutely, while considering what she is to us alone.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Alone

“Nature and human life are as various as our several constitutions. Who shall say what prospect life offers to another?”

— Henry David Thoreau

Life

“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Religion

“Not only must we be good, but we must also be good for something.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Good

“The man who goes alone can start today but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Alone

“Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good be good for something.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Good

“Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Nature

“The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Friendship