Henry David Thoreau

It is never too late to give up our prejudices.

For many years I was a self-appointed inspector of snowstorms and rainstorms and did my duty faithfully, though I never received payment for it.

A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight.

That man is rich whose pleasures are the cheapest.

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.

Live your life, do your work, then take your hat.

For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction.

The President has paid dear for his White House. It has commonly cost him all his peace, and the best of his manly attributes. To preserve for a short time so conspicuous an appearance before the world, he is content to eat dust before the real masters who stand erect behind the throne.

The real satisfaction which praise can afford, is when what is repeated aloud agrees with the whispers of conscience, by showing us that we have not endeavored to deserve well in vain.

When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.

She was no longer wrestling with the grief, but could sit down with it as a lasting companion and make it a sharer in her thoughts.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

The search after the great men is the dream of youth, and the most serious occupation of manhood.

Extended empires are like expanded gold, exchanging solid strength for feeble splendor.

Once we recognize that all things are impermanent, we have no problem enjoying them.

The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet.

What sort of philosophers are we, who know absolutely nothing about the origin and destiny of cats?

Little minds have little worries, big minds have no time for worries.

Every man’s work, whether it be literature, or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.

There are more fools than knaves in the world, else the knaves would not have enough to live upon.

What could we accomplish if we knew we could not fail?