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Great God, I ask thee for no meaner pelf Than that I may not disappoint myself, That in my action I may soar as high As I can now discern with this clear eye.

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
Clear
Pelf
Eye
Meaner
Action
Discern
May
Disappoint
Great
Soar
Thee
Asks
High

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Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent.
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In the mythus a superhuman intelligence uses the unconscious thoughts and dreams of men as its hieroglyphics to address men unborn.
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In wildness is the preservation of the world.
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The monster is never just there where we think he is. What is truly monstrous is our cowardice and sloth.
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Poetry is the mysticism of mankind.
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We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.
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Some, it seems to me, elect their rulers for their crookedness. But I think that a straight stick makes the best cane, and an upright man the best ruler.
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Good deeds are no less good because their object is unworthy.
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However mean your life is, meet it and live it do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are.
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As for your high towers and monuments, there was a crazy fellow once in this town who undertook to dig through to China, and he got so far that, as he said, he heard the Chinese pots and kettles rattle but I think that I shall not go out of my way to admire the hole which he made.
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As a man grows older, his ability to sit still and follow indoor occupations increases. He grows vespertinal in his habits as theevening of life approaches, till at last he comes forth only just before sundown, and gets all the walk that he requires in half an hour.
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The opportunities of living are diminished in proportion as what are called the means are increased.
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Wherever a man goes, men will pursue him and paw him with their dirty institutions, and, if they can, constrain him to belong to their desperate odd-fellow society.
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