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Yet some can be patriotic who have no self-respect, and sacrifice the greater to the less. They love the soil which makes their graves, but have no sympathy with the spirit which may still animate their clay. Patriotism is a maggot in their heads.

Henry David Thoreau

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Henry David Thoreau
Age: 44 †
Born: 1817
Born: July 12
Died: 1862
Died: May 6
Abolitionist
Author
Autobiographer
Diarist
Ecologist
Environmentalist
Essayist
Naturalist
Philosopher
Poet
Translator
Writer
birthplace of Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau
Henry D. Thoreau
Love
Greater
Patriotic
Less
Patriotism
Makes
Sympathy
Spirit
Heads
Stills
Graves
Maggot
Still
Soil
Maggots
May
Sacrifice
Animate
Self
Respect
Clay

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Yet the New Testament treats of man and man's so-called spiritual affairs too exclusively, and is too constantly moral and personal, to alone content me, who am not interested solely in man's religious or moral nature, or in man even.
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In order to die, you must first have lived.
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The richest gifts we can bestow are the least marketable. We hate the kindness which we understand.
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I suppose that the great questions of Fate, Freewill, Foreknowledge Absolute, which used to be discussed at Concord, are still unsettled.
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For things to change, we must change.
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So long as a man is faithful to himself, everything is in his favor, government, society, the very sun, moon, and stars.
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I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn.
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Where there is a lull of truth, an institution springs up. But the truth blows right on over it, nevertheless, and at length blows it down.
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Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.
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I do not wish, it happens, to be associated with Massachusetts, either in holding slaves or in conquering Mexico. I am a little better than herself in these respects.
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We are born as innocents. We are polluted by advice.
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When my legs begin to move, the thoughts begin to flow.
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What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen.
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You must not blame me if I do talk to the clouds.
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I was determined to know beans.
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I only desire sincere relations with the worthiest of my acquaintance, that they may give me an opportunity once in a year to speak the truth.
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Treat your friends for what you know them to be. Regard no surfaces. Consider not what they did, but what they intended.
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