It is an unfortunate discovery certainly, that of a law which binds us where we did not know before that we were bound. Henry David Thoreau More Quotes by Henry David Thoreau More Quotes From Henry David Thoreau I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who have understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks,-who had a genius, so to speak, for sauntering. Henry David Thoreau genius two art It requires a direct dispensation from Heaven to become a walker. Henry David Thoreau sauntering walkers heaven There is one thought for the field, another for the house. I would have my thoughts, like wild apples, to be food for walkers, and will not warrant them to be palatable if tasted in the house. Henry David Thoreau apples fields house My vicinity affords many good walks; and though for so many years I have walked almost every day, and sometimes for several days together, I have not yet exhausted them. An absolutely new prospect is a great happiness, and I can still get this any afternoon. Two or three hours' walking will carry me to as strange a country as I ever expect to see. Henry David Thoreau two country years Every sunset I witness inspires me with the desire to go to West as distant and as fair as that which the sun goes down. Eastward I go only by force; but westward I go free. Henry David Thoreau sunset desire inspire For in the wood these golden days Some leaf obeys its Maker's call. And through their hollow aisles it plays With delicate touch the prelude of the Fall. Henry David Thoreau golden-days play fall I realized a school doesn't need a School Committee or Trustees or Governors or lumber or approved textbooks. All a school needs is a mind that sends and minds that receive. I shall teach my own students how to teach themselves. My own school. No buildings. Break out of the classroom prison. All I need is SKY. The Universe can be my classroom - the great vast world of the Concord countryside. Henry David Thoreau mind sky school If some are prosecuted for abusing children, others deserve to be prosecuted for maltreating the face of nature committed to their care. Henry David Thoreau care faces children For things to change, we must change. Henry David Thoreau Wealth is measured by the level of experience in all aspects of life Henry David Thoreau aspect wealth levels Many men walk by day; few walk by night. It is a different season. Henry David Thoreau different men night There are none happy in the world but beings who enjoy freely a vast horizon. Henry David Thoreau horizon enjoy world In civilization, as in a southern latitude, man degenerates at length, and yields to the incursion of more northern tribes. Henry David Thoreau yield men civilization I was awakened at midnight by some heavy, low-flying bird, probably a loon, flapping by close over my head, along the shore. So, turning the other side of my half-clad body to the fire, I sought slumber again. Henry David Thoreau flying fire bird The echo is, to some extent, an original sound, and therein is the magic and charm of it. It is not merely a repetition of what was worth repeating in the bell, but partly the voice of the wood; the same trivial words and notes sung by a wood-nymph. Henry David Thoreau nymphs echoes voice The Fitchburg Railroad touches the pond about a hundred rods south of where I dwell. I usually go to the village along its causeway, and am, as it were, related to society by this link. The men on the freight trains, who go over the whole length of the road, bow to me as to an old acquaintance, they pass me so often, and apparently they take me for an employee; and so I am. I too would fain be a track-repairer somewhere in the orbit of the earth. Henry David Thoreau ponds track men Many have believed that Walden reached quite through to the other side of the globe. Henry David Thoreau walden-pond globes sides The golden mean in ethics, as in physics, is the centre of the system and that about which all revolve, and though to a distant and plodding planet it be an uttermost extreme, yet one day, when that planet's year is completed, it will be found to be central. Henry David Thoreau one-day mean years I love reform better than its modes. Henry David Thoreau reform Why do you ever mend your clothes, unless that, wearing them, you may mend your ways. Let us sing. Henry David Thoreau clothes reform may
