Henry David Thoreau Quotations: RELIGION & PHILOSOPHY
A man's real faith is never contained in his creed, nor is his creed an article of his faith.—A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
A strain of music reminds me of a passage of the Vedas, and I associate with it the idea of infinite remoteness, as well as of beauty and serenity, for to the senses that is farthest from us which addresses the greatest depth within us. It teaches us again and again to trust the remotest and finest as the divinest instinct, and makes a dream our only real experience.—A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
Anciently the faith of a philosopher was identical with his system, or, in other words, his view of the universe.—A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
And, above all, there is this difference between resisting this and a purely brute or natural force, that I can resist this with some effect; but I cannot expect, like Orpheus, to change the nature of the rocks and trees and beasts.—"Civil Disobedience"
Any moral philosophy is exceedingly rare.—A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
As a mother loves to see her child imbibe nourishment and expand, so God loves to see his children thrive on the nutriment he has furnished them.—Journal, 22 January 1859
As Anacreon says "the works of men shine," so the sounds of men and birds are musical.—Journal, 8 March 1853
As for the religion and love of art of the builders, it is much the same all the world over, whether the building be an Egyptian temple or the United States Bank.—Walden
At present, in this vicinity, the best part of the land is not private property; the landscape is not owned, and the walker enjoys comparative freedom. But possibly the day will come when it will be partitioned off into so-called pleasure grounds, in which a few will take a narrow and exclusive pleasure only,—when fences shall be multiplied, and man traps and other engines invented to confine men to the public road; and walking over the surface of God’s earth, shall be construed to mean trespassing on some gentleman’s grounds. To enjoy a thing exclusively is commonly to exclude yourself from the true enjoyment of it. Let us improve our opportunities then before the evil days come.—"Walking"
Be faithful to your genius.—Journal, 20 December 1851
