The effect of a good government is to make life more valuable; of a bad one, to make it less valuable.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
“Slavery in Massachussetts,” speech, Farmingham (4 Jul 1854)
Quotations by:
Thoreau, Henry David
We seem to have forgotten that the expression “a liberal education” originally meant among the Romans one worthy of free men; while the learning of trades and professions by which to get your livelihood merely, was considered worthy of slaves only.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
“The Last Days of John Brown” (1860)
(Source)
Also known as "A Plea for Captain John Brown".
The squirrel that you kill in jest, dies in earnest.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)
I did not know that we had ever quarreled, Aunt.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)
On his deathbed, when asked by his Aunt Louisa if he'd made his peace with God.
That is mine which none can steal from me.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)
In Bronson Alcott, Concord Days, 5 Apr 1869 (1872)
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Attributed)
First attributed in Kate Sanborn, A Year of Sunshine; Cheerful Extracts for Every Day in the Year (1886), but not found in his writings.
Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
(Misattributed)Actually from James Jeffrey Roche, "Rules of the Road" (1891):
Be silent and safe — silence never betrays you;
Be true to your word and your work and your friend;
Put least trust in him who is foremost to praise you,
Nor judge of a road till it draw to the end.
You can hardly convince a man of an error in a lifetime, but must content yourself with the reflection that the progress of science is slow. If he is not convinced, his grandchildren may be.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
A Week on the Concord and Marrimack Rivers (1849)
Full text.
It takes two to speak the truth, — one to speak, and another to hear.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
A Week on the Concord and Marrimack Rivers, “Wednesday” (1849)
Full text.
True Friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
A week on the Concord and Merrimac Rivers (1849)
This world is but canvas to our imaginations.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, “Wednesday” (1849)
(Source)
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
Walden, “Conclusion” (1854)
Only that day dawns to which we are awake.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, “Conclusion” (1854)
Why should we be in such a desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different rummer. Let him step to the music that he hears, however measured or far away.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, “Conclusion” (1854)
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
Walden, “Economy” (1854)
Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, “Economy” (1854)
There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root ….
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, “Economy” (1854)
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
Walden, “Economy” (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)
There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, “Economy” (1854)
We may not arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we would preserve the true course.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, “Economy” (1854)
No man ever stood the lower in my estimation for having a patch in his clothes; yet I am sure that there is greater anxiety, commonly, to have fashionable, or at least clean and unpatched clothes, than to have a sound conscience.
The self-styled reformers, the greatest bores of all.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, “Visitors” (1854)
How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, ch. 1 “Reading” (1854)
(Source)
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)
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, ch. 18 (1854)
I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society. When visitors came in larger and unexpected numbers, there was but the third chair for them all, but they generally economized the room by standing up.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, ch. 6 “Visitors” (1854)
(Source)
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)
Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10
(Source)
Based on an 1848 lecture at the Concord Lyceum.
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
Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10
(Source)
Based on an 1848 lecture at the Concord Lyceum.
Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10
(Source)
Based on an 1848 lecture at the Concord Lyceum.
If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth, — certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10
(Source)
Based on an 1848 lecture at the Concord Lyceum.
Men generally, under such a government as this, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter [unjust laws]. They think that, if they should resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. But it is the fault of the government itself that the remedy is worse than the evil. It makes it worse. Why is it not more apt to anticipate and provide for reform? Why does it not cherish its wise minority? Why does it cry and resist before it is hurt? Why does it not encourage its citizens to be on the alert to point out its faults, and do better than it would have them? Why does it always crucify Christ, and excommunicate Copernicus and Luther, and pronounce Washington and Franklin rebels?
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10
(Source)
Based on an 1848 lecture at the Concord Lyceum.
Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice. A common and natural result of an undue respect for the law is, that you may see a file of soldiers, colonel, captain, corporal, privates, powder-monkeys and all, marching in admirable order over hill and dale to the wars, against their wills, aye, against their common sense and consciences, which makes it very steep marching indeed, and produces a palpitation of the heart. They have no doubt that it is a damnable business in which they are concerned; they are all peaceably inclined. Now, what are they? Men at all? or small movable forts and magazines, at the service of some unscrupulous man in power?
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10
(Source)
Based on an 1848 lecture at the Concord Lyceum.
Others, as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders, serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10
(Source)
Based on an 1848 lecture at the Concord Lyceum.
The mass of men serve the State thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, gaolers, constables, posse comitatus, etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10
(Source)
Based on an 1848 lecture at the Concord Lyceum.
This world is a place of business. What an infinite bustle! I am awaked almost every night by the panting of the locomotive. It interrupts my dreams. There is no sabbath. It would be glorious to see mankind at leisure for once. It is nothing but work, work, work. I cannot easily buy a blank-book to write thoughts in; they are commonly ruled for dollars and cents. An Irishman, seeing me making a minute in the fields, took it for granted that I was calculating my wages. If a man was tossed out of a window when an infant, and so made a cripple for life, or scared out of his wits by the Indians, it is regretted chiefly because he was thus incapacitated for — business! I think that 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
Essay (1863-10), “Life without Principle,” Atlantic Monthly, No. 72
(Source)
Based his lecture (1854-12-06) "What Shall It Profit?" Railroad Hall, Providence, Rhode Island. He had edited it for publication before his death, and it was published posthumously.
It is not enough to tell me you worked hard to get your gold. So does the Devil work hard.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1863-10), “Life without Principle,” Atlantic Monthly, No. 72
(Source)
Writing of the California Gold Rush.
Based his lecture (1854-12-06) "What Shall It Profit?" Railroad Hall, Providence, Rhode Island. He had edited it for publication before his death, and it was published posthumously.
Let us know and conform only to the fashion of eternity.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (1 Sep 1841)
Write while the heat is in you. When the farmer burns a hole in his yoke, he carries the hot iron quickly from the fire to the wood, for every moment is less effectual to penetrate (pierce) it. It must be used instantly or it is useless. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (10 Feb 1852)
The stupid you have always with you.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (13 Feb 1860)
The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or perchance a palace or a temple on the earth, and at length the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (14 Jul 1852)
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)
Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (18 Oct 1855)
The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or perchance a palace or temple on the earth, and at length the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed of them.
That man is the richest whose pleasures are cheapest.
The truly beneficent never relapses into a creditor.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (2 Sep 1841)
I have not succeeded if I have an antagonist who fails. It must be humanity’s success.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (22 Mar 1842)
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)
You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land, there is no other life but this.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (24 Apr 1859)
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)
Let us make distinctions, call things by the right names.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (28 Nov 1860)
I know of no rule which holds so true as that we are always paid for our suspicion by finding what we suspect.
Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (5 Jan 1856)
Nothing is so much to be feared as fear.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Journal (7 Sep 1851)
And the cost of a thing it will be remembered 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 (after 6 Dec 1845)
Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still. Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Letter (1848-03-27) to Harrison Blake
(Source)
Collected in F. B. Sanborn, ed., Familiar Letters (1865),
It is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you industrious about?
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Letter to Harrison Blake (16 Nov 1857)
What is wanted is men, not of policy, but of probity, — who recognize a higher law than the Constitution, or the decision of the majority. The fate of the country does not depend on how you vote at the polls, — the worst man is as strong as the best at that game; it 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 morning.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1854-07-04), “Slavery in Massachusetts,” Anti-Slavery Celebration, Framingham, Massachusetts
(Source)
After the conviction in Boston of Anthony Burns, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This led to large protests and an abolitionist riot at the Boston Courthouse, requiring Federal troops and state militia to ensure his transport to a ship sailing to Virginia.
I wish my countrymen to consider, that whatever the human law may be, neither an individual nor a nation can ever commit the least act of injustice against the obscurest individual, without having to pay the penalty for it. A government which deliberately enacts injustice, and persists in it, will at length even become the laughing-stock of the world.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1854-07-04), “Slavery in Massachusetts,” Anti-Slavery Celebration, Framingham, Massachusetts
(Source)
After the conviction in Boston of Anthony Burns, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This led to large protests and an abolitionist riot at the Boston Courthouse, requiring Federal troops and state militia to ensure Burns' transport to a ship sailing to Virginia.
The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the law free. They are the lovers of law and order, who observe the law when the government breaks it.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1854-07-04), “Slavery in Massachusetts,” Anti-Slavery Celebration, Framingham, Massachusetts
(Source)
After the conviction in Boston of Anthony Burns, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This led to large protests and an abolitionist riot at the Boston Courthouse, requiring Federal troops and state militia to ensure Burns' transport to a ship sailing to Virginia.
In context, Thoreau is arguing the quality of a higher law, higher than the Fugitive Slave Law or Constitutional legalism from the courts -- the "law of humanity," which condemns the injustice of slavery.
I would remind my countrymen, that they are to be men first, and Americans only at a late and convenient hour. No matter how valuable law may be to protect your property, even to keep soul and body together, if it do not keep you and humanity together.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1854-07-04), “Slavery in Massachusetts,” Anti-Slavery Celebration, Framingham, Massachusetts
(Source)
After the conviction in Boston of Anthony Burns, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This led to large protests and an abolitionist riot at the Boston Courthouse, requiring Federal troops and state militia to ensure Burns' transport to a ship sailing to Virginia.