I fear that he who walks over these fields a century hence will not know the pleasure of knocking off wild apples. Ah, poor man, there are many pleasures which he will not know!
—"Wild Apples"I fear the dissipation that traveling, going into society, even the best, the enjoyment of intellectual luxuries, imply.
—Journal, 10 March 1856In accumulating property for ourselves or our posterity, in founding a family or a state, or acquiring fame even, we are mortal; but in dealing with truth we are immortal, and need fear no change or accident.
—WaldenMen talk of freedom! How many are free to think? free from fear, from perturbation, from prejudice?
—Journal, 6 May 1858The best man’s spirit makes a fearful sprite to haunt his tomb. The ghost of a priest is no better than that of a highwayman.
—Journal, 23 December 1841The Deity would be reverenced, not feared.
—Early Essays and MiscellaniesVirtue is the deed of the bravest art which demands the greatest confidence and fearlessness. Only some hardy soul ventures upon it. Virtue is a bravery so hardy that it deals in what it has no experience in.
—Journal, 1 January 1842When I hear music I fear no danger, I am invulnerable, I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times and to the latest.
—Journal, 13 January 1857When it was proposed to me to go abroad, rub oft some rust, and better my condition in a worldly sense, I fear lest my life will lose some of its homeliness. If these fields and streams and woods, the phenomena of nature here, and the simple occupations of the inhabitants should cease to interest and inspire me, no culture or wealth would atone for the loss.
—Journal, 11 March 1856