WIST

It is an interesting question how far men would retain their relative rank if they were divested of their clothes.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
“Economy,” Walden (1854)

There is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself, than this incessant business.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
“Life without Principle,” Atlantic (Oct 1863)

We are always paid for our suspicion by finding what we suspect.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)

In the long run men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)

There is no rule more invariable than that we are paid for our suspicions by finding what we suspect.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)

The squirrel that you kill in jest, dies in earnest.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)

Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)

For every ten people who are clipping at the branches of evil, you’re lucky to find one who’s hacking at the roots.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)

True friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)

The fate of the country … does not depend on what kind of paper you drop into the ballot box once a year, but on what kind of man you drop from your chamber into the street every day.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)

Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)

I did not know that we had ever quarrelled.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)

On being urged to make his peace with God.

We should be men first, and subjects afterward.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (1849)

Only that day dawns to which we are awake.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, “Conclusion” (1854)

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, “Economy” (1854)

Drive a nail home and clinch it so faithfully that you can wake up in the night and think of your work with satisfaction, — a work at which you would not be ashamed to invoke the Muse.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, ch. 18 (1854)

Go where we will, we discover infinite change in particulars only, not in generals.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden,”Conclusion” (1854)

In enthusiasm we undulate to the divine spiritus — as the lake to the wind.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (16 Dec 1840)

The cost of a thing … is the amount of life it requires to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (1845, undated)

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (23 Aug 1853)

There is no remedy for love but to love more.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (25 Jul 1839)

In my experience, at least of late years, all that depresses a man’s spirits is the sense of remissness — duties neglected, unfaithfulness — or shamming, impurity, falsehood, selfishness, inhumanity, and the like.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (28 Aug 1854)

Nothing is so much to be feared as fear.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (7 Sep 1851)