3,409 Quotes by Henry David Thoreau

I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government

Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.

A sufficiently great and generous trust could never be abused.

A taste for the beautiful is most cultivated out of doors

Live in each season as it passes: breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit.

I am a happy camper so I guess I’m doing something right. Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.

To the man who cherishes a secret in his breast, there is a still greater secret unexplored. Our most indifferent acts may be a matter for secrecy, but whatever we do with the utmost truthfulness and integrity, by virtue of its pureness, must be transparent as light.

Men have become the fools of their tools

Few, if any, creatures are equally active all night.