3,409 Quotes by Henry David Thoreau

It is best to avoid the beginnings of evil.

We are born as innocents. We are polluted by advice.

If Nature is our mother, then God is our father.

Politics is but a narrow field.

I have seen how the foundations of the world are laid, and I have not the least doubt that it will stand a good while.

You don't know your testament when you see it.

I could not help being struck with the foolishness of that institution which treated me as if I were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up.

What shall we think of a government to which all the truly brave and just men in the land are enemies, standing between it and those whom it oppresses? A government that pretends to be Christian and crucifies a million Christs every day!

The chimney is to some extent an independent structure, standing on the ground, and rising through the house to the heavens; evenafter the house is burned it still stands sometimes, and its importance and independence are apparent.