Should not every apartment in which man dwells be lofty enough to create some obscurity overhead, where flickering shadows may play at evening about the rafters? Henry David Thoreau More Quotes by Henry David Thoreau More Quotes From Henry David Thoreau Most men, it seems to me, do not care for Nature and would sell their share in all her beauty, as long as they may live, for a stated sum - many for a glass of rum. Thank God, men cannot as yet fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth! Henry David Thoreau glasses sky men It is a thorough process, this war with the wilderness - breaking nature, taming the soil. feeding it on oats. The civilized man regards the pine tree as his enemy. He will fell it and let in the light, grub it up and raise wheat or rye there. It is no better than a fungus to him. Henry David Thoreau light men war Why should not we, who have renounced the king's authority, have our national preserves, where no villages need be destroyed, in which the bear and panther, and some even of the hunter race, may still exist, and not be "civilized off the face of the earth," - our forests, not to hold the king's game merely, but to hold and preserve the king himself also, the lord of creation, - not for idle sport or food, but for inspiration and our own true re-creation? Henry David Thoreau inspiration kings sports The very willow-rows lopped every three years for fuel or powder, - and every sizable pine and oak, or other forest tree, cut down within the memory of man! As if individual speculators were to be allowed to export the clouds out of the sky, or the stars out of the firmament, one by one. We shall be reduced to gnaw the very crust of the earth for nutriment. Henry David Thoreau cutting stars memories It would be worth the while if in each town there were a committee appointed to see that the beauty of the town received no detriment. If we have the largest boulder in the county, then it should not belong to an individual, nor be made into door-steps. Henry David Thoreau boulders would-be doors Those things for which the most money is demanded are never the things which the student most wants. Tuition, for instance, is an important item in the term bill, while for the far more valuable education which he gets by associating with the most cultivated of his contemporaries no charge is made. Henry David Thoreau tuition important education I am still a learner, not a teacher, feeding somewhat omnivorously, browsing both stalk & leaves Henry David Thoreau stalking education teacher We saw one school-house in our walk, and listened to the sounds which issued from it; but it appeared like a place where the process, not of enlightening, but of obfuscating the mind was going on, and the pupils received only so much light as could penetrate the shadow of the Catholic church. Henry David Thoreau light education school Who is old enough to have learned from experience? Henry David Thoreau experience enough The value of any experience is measured, of course, not by the amount of money, but the amount of development we get out of it. Henry David Thoreau courses experience development In the summer we lay up a stock of experiences for the winter, as the squirrel of nuts?something for conversation in winter evenings. Henry David Thoreau squirrels summer winter Surely one may as profitably be soaked in the juices of a swamp for one day as pick his way dry-shod over sand. Cold and damp ? are they not as rich experience as warmth and dryness? Henry David Thoreau juice experience one-day I think that no experience which I have today comes up to, or is comparable with, the experiences of my boyhood. Henry David Thoreau experience today thinking It is hard to have a Southern overseer; it is worse to have a Northern one; but worst of all when you are yourself the slave-driver. Henry David Thoreau slave freedom southern Do we call this the land of the free? What is it to be free from King George the Fourth and continue the slaves of prejudice? What is it to be born free and equal, and not to live? What is the value of any political freedom, but as a means to moral freedom? Henry David Thoreau freedom kings mean The mass of men are very easily imposed on. They have their runways in which they always travel, and are sure to fall into any pit or box-trap set therein. Henry David Thoreau freedom men fall What great interval is there between him who is caught in Africa and made a plantation slave of in the South, and him who is caught in New England and made a Unitarian minister of? Henry David Thoreau slave england freedom To say that a man is your Friend means commonly no more than this, that he is not your enemy. Henry David Thoreau friendship men mean I have never met with a friend who furnished me sea-room. I have only tacked a few times and come to anchor - not sailed - made no voyage, carried no venture. Henry David Thoreau anchors sea friendship Even the death of Friends will inspire us as much as their lives. They will leave consolation to the mourners, as the rich leave money to defray the expenses of their funerals, and their memories will be incrusted over with sublime and pleasing thoughts, as monuments of other men are overgrown with moss; for our Friends have no place in the graveyard. Henry David Thoreau friendship men memories
