It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. — Henry David Thoreau
It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about? — Henry David Thoreau
It is not part of a true culture to tame tigers, any more than it is to make sheep ferocious. — Henry David Thoreau
I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion. — Henry David Thoreau
If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good — Henry David Thoreau
If I seem to boast more than is becoming, my excuse is that I brag for humanity rather than for myself. — Henry David Thoreau
I put a piece of paper under my pillow, and when I could not sleep I wrote in the dark. — Henry David Thoreau
I have seen how the foundations of the world are laid, and I have not the least doubt that it will stand a good while. — Henry David Thoreau
I have thought there was some advantage even in death, by which we mingle with the herd of common men. — Henry David Thoreau
I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. — Henry David Thoreau
I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world — Henry David Thoreau
I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society. — Henry David Thoreau
I have a great deal of company in the house, especially in the morning when nobody calls. — Henry David Thoreau
How could youths better learn to live than by at once trying the experiment of living? — Henry David Thoreau
How many things there are concerning which we might well deliberate whether we had better know them. — Henry David Thoreau
Great men, unknown to their generation, have their fame among the great who have preceded them — Henry David Thoreau
Generally speaking, a howling wilderness does not howl: it is the imagination of the traveler that does the howling. — Henry David Thoreau
God reigns when we take a liberal view, when a liberal view is presented to us. — Henry David Thoreau
Faith keeps many doubts in her pay. If I could not doubt, I should not believe. — Henry David Thoreau
Friends… they cherish one another’s hopes. They are kind to one another’s dreams. — Henry David Thoreau