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A book should contain pure discoveries, glimpses of terra firma, though by shipwrecked mariners, and not the art of navigation by those who have never been out of sight of land.

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
Land
Glimpses
Though
Navigation
Reading
Discoveries
Art
Contain
Book
Glimpse
Firma
Never
Discovery
Terra
Sight
Shipwrecked
Pure
Mariners

More quotes by Henry David Thoreau

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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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If it is surely the means to the highest end we know, can any work be humble or disgusting? Will it not rather be elevating as a ladder, the means by which we are translated?
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For things to change, we must change.
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I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.
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It is impossible to give a soldier a good education without making him a deserter. His natural foe is the government that drills him.
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If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment. [Like they say, 'Every cloud has a silver lining'...so if you are patient, expect, anticipate, look and work for some good to come from the cloud, you will be rewarded eventually!]
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In winter we lead a more inward life. Our hearts are warm and cheery, like cottages under drifts.
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He who cannot exaggerate is not qualified to utter truth.
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I have thought there was some advantage even in death, by which we mingle with the herd of common men.
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It is remarkable how long men will believe in the bottomlessness of a pond without taking the trouble to sound it.
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The little things in life are as interesting as the big ones.
Henry David Thoreau
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The heart is forever inexperienced.
Henry David Thoreau
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The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.
Henry David Thoreau
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After all, I believe it is the style of thought entirely, and the style of expression, which makes the difference in books.
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This bird sees the white man come and the Indian withdraw, but it withdraws not. Its untamed voice is still heard above the tinkling of the forge... It remains to remind us of aboriginal nature.
Henry David Thoreau
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I could lecture on dry oak leaves I could, but who would hear me? If I were to try it on any large audience, I fear it would be no gain to them, and a positive loss to me. I should have behaved rudely toward my rustling friends.
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If I were confined to a corner of a garret all my days, like a spider, the world would be just as large to me while I had my thoughts about me.
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Say what you have to say, not what you ought. Any truth is better than make-believe.
Henry David Thoreau
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We fritter away our energy and creativity . . . we get bogged down in the thick of thin things.
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There is no history of how bad became better.
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