Henry David Thoreau Quotations: ECONOMY
We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us. Did you ever think what those sleepers are that underlie the railroad? Each one is a man . . . The rails are laid on them, and they are covered with sand, and the cars run smoothly over them. They are sound sleepers, I assure you. And every few years a new lot is laid down and run over; so that, if some have the pleasure of riding on a rail, others have the misfortune to be ridden upon.—Walden
We live too fast and coarsely, just as we eat too fast, and do not know the true savor of our food.—Journal, 28 December 1852
We rowed leisurely up the stream for several hours, until the sun had got high in the sky, our thoughts monotonously beating time to our oars. For outward variety there was only the river and the receding shores, a vista continually opening behind and closing before us, as we sat with our backs up-stream; and, for inward, such thoughts as the muses grudgingly lent us.—A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
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. But taking a hint from the word, I would go a step further and say, that it is not the man of wealth and leisure simply, though devoted to art, or science, or literature, who, in a true sense, is liberally educated, but only the earnest and free man.—"The Last Days of John Brown"
Wealth cannot purchase any great private solace or convenience. Riches are only the means of sociality.—Journal, 2 January 1842
Wealth, no less than knowledge, is power.—Journal, 25 January 1841
What are the natural features which make a township handsome? A river, with its waterfalls and meadows, a lake, a hill, a cliff or individual rocks, a forest, and ancient trees standing singly. Such things are beautiful; they have a high use which dollars and cents never represent. If the inhabitants of a town were wise, they would seek to preserve these things, though at a considerable expense; for such things educate far more than any hired teachers or preachers, or any at present recognized system of school education.—Journal, 3 January 1861
What exercise is to the body, employment is to the mind and morals.—Thoreau to H.G.O Blake, 27 March 1848
What is a day if the day's work not be done?—Journal, 30 August 1841
What you call bareness and poverty is to me simplicity.—Journal, 5 December 1856
