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 1859As Anacreon says “the works of men shine,” so the sounds of men and birds are musical.
—Journal, 8 March 1853As boys are sometimes required to show an excuse for being absent from school, so it seems to me that men should have to show some excuse for being here.
—Journal, 3 January 1861As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.
—WaldenAs for style of writing—if one has any thing to say, it drops from him simply and directly, as stone falls to the ground.
—Thoreau to Daniel Ricketson, 18 August 1857As for the complex ways of living, I love them not, however much I practice them. In as many places as possible, I will get my feet down to the earth.
—Journal, 22 October 1853As for the dispute about solitude and society, any comparison is impertinent.
—Thoreau to H.G.O. Blake, 21 May 1856As 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.
—WaldenAs for your high towers and monuments, there was a crazy fellow once in this town who undertook to dig through to China, and he got so far that, as he said, he heard the Chinese pots and kettles rattle; but I think that I shall not go out of my way to admire the hole which he made. Many are concerned about the monuments of the West and the East—to know who built them. For my part, I should like to know who in those days did not build them—who were above such trifling.
—WaldenAs I came home through the woods with my string of fish, trailing my pole, it being now quite dark, I caught a glimpse of a woodchuck stealing across my path, and felt a strange thrill of savage delight, and was strongly tempted to seize and devour him raw; not that I was hungry then, except for that wildness which he represented.
—WaldenAs I preferred some things to others, and especially valued my freedom, as I could fare hard and yet succeed well, I did not wish to spend my time in earning rich carpets or other fine furniture, or delicate cookery, or a house in the Grecian or the Gothic style just yet. If there are any to whom it is no interruption to acquire these things, and who know how to use them when acquired, I relinquish to them the pursuit.
—WaldenAs in many countries precious metals belong to the crown, so here more precious natural objects of rare beauty should belong to the public.
—Journal, 3 January 1861As it is important to consider Nature from the point of view of science remembering nomenclature and system of men, and so, if possible, go a step further in that direction, so it is equally important often to ignore or forget all that men presume they know, and take an original and unprejudiced view of Nature, letting her make what impression she will on you, as the first men, and all children and natural men still do.
—Journal, 28 February 1860As it is, each takes us up into the serene heavens, whither the smallest bubble rises as surely as the largest, and paints earth and sky for us. Any sincere thought is irresistible.
—A Week on the Concord and Merrimack RiversAs naturally as the oak bears an acorn, and the vine a gourd, man bears a poem, either spoken or done.
—A Week on the Concord and Merrimack RiversAs we stood on the pile of chips by the door, fish hawks were sailing overhead; and here, over Shad Pond, might daily be witnessed the tyranny of the bald eagle over that bird.
—The Maine WoodsAsk me for a certain number of dollars if you will, but do not ask me for my afternoons.
—Journal, 16 September 1859At death our friends and relations either draw nearer to us and are found out, or depart further from us and are forgotten. Friends are as often brought nearer together as separated by death.
—Journal, 24 December 1850