Quote

It required some rudeness to disturb with our boat the mirror-like surface of the water, in which every twig and blade of grass was so faithfully reflected too faithfully indeed for art to imitate, for only Nature may exaggerate herself.

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
May
Boat
Faithfully
Every
Grass
Disturb
Like
Mirrors
Blade
Surface
Imitate
Indeed
Blades
Twig
Water
Reflected
Twigs
Art
Required
Rudeness
Nature
Mirror
Exaggerate

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A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.
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Life is so short that it is not wise to take roundabout ways, nor can we spend much time in waiting.... We have not got half-way to dawn yet.
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I turned my face more exclusively than ever to the woods, where I was better known.
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Yet we must try the harder, the less the prospect of success.
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I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least - and it is commonly more than that - sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements.
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Most men, it seems to me, do not care for Nature and would sell their share in all her beauty, as long as they may live, for a stated sum - many for a glass of rum. Thank God, men cannot as yet fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth!
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If you're familiar with a principle you don't have to be familiar with all of its applications.
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There is something servile in the habit of seeking after a law which we may obey. We may study the laws of matter at and for our convenience, but a successful life knows no law.
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I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite - only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety.
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If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.
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In order to die, you must first have lived.
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The Indian...stands free and unconstrained in Nature, is her inhabitant and not her guest, and wears her easily and gracefully. But the civilized man has the habits of the house. His house is a prison.
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We are older by faith than by experience.
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This curious world we inhabit is more wonderful than convenient more beautiful than it is useful it is more to be admired and enjoyed than used.
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To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.
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There is no history of how bad became better.
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I stand in awe of my body.
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It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?
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Nature is not made after such a fashion as we would have her. We piously exaggerate her wonders, as the scenery around our home.
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