Henry David Thoreau Quotations: MORALS & VALUES
Excuse our hard and cold New England manners, lay it partly to the climate: granite and ice, you know, are our chief exports.—Thoreau to Thomas Cholmondeley, 8 November 1855
Falsehoods that glare and dazzle are sloped toward us, reflecting full in our faces even the light of the sun. Wait till sunset, or go round them, and the falsity will be apparent.—Journal, 11 February 1840
Fear creates danger, and courage dispels it.—Journal, 12 November 1859
For the most part we can only treat one another to our wit, our good manners and equanimity, and though we have eagles to give we demand of each other only coppers.—"Reform and Reformers"
Goodness is the only investment that never fails.—Walden
He who lives according to the highest law is in one sense lawless.—Journal, 27 February 1851
He who receives an injury is an accomplice of the wrong-doer.—Journal, 9 July 1840
Hell itself may be contained within the compass of a spark.—Journal, 19 December 1837
How important is a constant intercourse with nature and the contemplation of natural phenomena to the preservation of moral and intellectual health! The discipline of the schools or of business can never impart such serenity to the mind.—Journal, 6 May 1851
How insufficient is all wisdom without love.—Journal, 25 March 1842
