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Men have come to such a pass that they frequently starve, not for want of necessaries, but for want of luxuries.

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
Pass
Come
Men
Necessaries
Luxuries
Starve
Frequently
Luxury

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One is not born into the world to do everything but to do something.
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The poet is a man who lives at last by watching his moods. An old poet comes at last to watch his moods as narrowly as a cat does a mouse.
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There were times when I could not afford to sacrifice the bloom of the present moment to any work, whether of the head or hand. I love a broad margin to my life.
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Why should we leave it to Harper & Brothers and Redding & Co. to select our reading?
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The voice of nature is always encouraging.
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Books that are books are all that you want, and there are but a half dozen in any thousand.
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If the tax-gatherer, or any other public officer, asks me, as one has done, But what shall I do? my answer is, If you really wish to do anything, resign your office. When the subject has refused allegiance, and the officer has resigned his office, then the revolution is accomplished.
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It is desirable that a man be clad so simply that he can lay his hands on himself in the dark, and that he live in all respects so compactly and preparedly, that, if an enemy take the town, he can, like the old philosopher, walk out the gate empty-handed without anxiety.
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In short, I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely as the pursuits of the simpler nations are still the sports of the more artificial.
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The sacredness, if there is any, is all in yourself and not in the place.
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Nature is doing her best each moment to make us well. Why, nature is but another name for health.
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I know of no redeeming qualities in myself but a sincere love for some things, and when I am reproved I fall back on to this ground.
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Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage.
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New ideas come into this world somewhat like falling meteors, with a flash and an explosion.
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We are born as innocents. We are polluted by advice.
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Should not every apartment in which man dwells be lofty enough to create some obscurity overhead, where flickering shadows may play at evening about the rafters?
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The imagination, give it the least license, dives deeper and soars higher than Nature goes.
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It is better to have your head in the clouds, and know where you are... than to breathe the clearer atmosphere below them, and think that you are in paradise.
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City life is millions of people being lonesome together.
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