Henry David Thoreau

Of what significance are the things you can forget.

Eastward I go only by force; but westward I go free.

Is not disease the rule of existence? There is not a lily pad floating on the river but has been riddled by insects. Almost every shrub and tree has its gall, oftentimes esteemed its chief ornament and hardly to be distinguished from the fruit. If misery loves company, misery has company enough. Now, at midsummer, find me a perfect leaf or fruit.

It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

Love must be as much a light, as it is a flame.

The heart is forever inexperienced.

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.

For character too is a process and an unfolding… among our valued friends is there not someone or other who is a little too self confident and disdainful; whose distinguished mind is a little spotted with commonness; who is a little pinched here and protuberant there with native prejudices; or whose better energies are liable to lapse down the wrong channel under the influence of transient solicitations?

The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice.

I’ll tell you why yes, because why people lie is, because when people stop lying you know they’ve stopped caring.

Ahh, that mountain of self-discovery. Every time you have reached the summit, the clouds clear and you see there is still a ways to go. Don’t look up with thoughts of despair; thinking how much further do I have to go?! Take a moment and look back to see how far you have come. Don’t lose sight of your accomplishments, and focus on the continued commitment to self-discovery and development.

Every stroke our fury strikes is sure to hit ourselves at last.

Youth is like spring, an over-praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes. Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.

Beauty rests on necessities.

Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.

Although the masters make the rules for the wise men and the fools got nothing, Ma, to live up to.

Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the static, are the goals set. Put your head down, do the best job possible, let the flak pass, and work towards those goals.

Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.

A good scare is worth more than good advice.

Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.