Henry David Thoreau Philosophical Quotes

Writer, Philosopher

Philosophical

“I do not know where to find in any literature, whether ancient or modern, any adequate account of that Nature with which I am acquainted.”

Literature Nature Adequate

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Henry David Thoreau

Writer, Philosopher

Philosophical

“Left to herself, nature is always more or less civilized, and delights in a certain refinement; but where the axe has encroached upon the edge of the forest, the dead and unsightly limbs of the pine, which she had concealed with green banks of verdure, are exposed to sight.”

Nature Sight Forests

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Philosophical

“Nature would not appear so rich, the profusion so rich, if we knew a use for everything.”

Use Nature

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Philosophical

“Mythology is the crop which the Old World bore before its soil was exhausted.”

World Soil

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Philosophical

“Far from New England's blustering shore,New England's worm her hulk shall bore,And sink her in the Indian seas,Twine, wine, and hides, and China teas.”

Sea Wine Tea

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Philosophical

“The same law that shapes the earth-star shapes the snow-star. As surely as the petals of a flower are fixed, each of these countless snow-stars comes whirling to earth...these glorious spangles, the sweeping of heaven's floor.”

Law Stars Flower

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Philosophical

“Two or three hours' walking will carry me to as strange a country as I expect ever to see. A single farmhouse which I had not seen before is sometimes as good as the dominions of the King of Dahomey.”

Country Two Kings

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Philosophical

“When we walk, we naturally go to the fields and woods: what would become of us, if we walked only in a garden or a mall? Even some sects of philosophers have felt the necessity of importing the woods to themselves, since they did not go to the woods. They planted groves and walks of Plantanes, where they took subdiales ambulationes in porticos open to the air. Of course, it is of no use to direct our steps to the woods, if they do not carry us thither.”

Use Air Garden

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Philosophical

“I do not believe in lawyers, in that mode of attacking or defending a man, because you descend to meet the judge on his own ground, and, in cases of the highest importance, it is of no consequence whether a man breaks a human law or not. Let lawyers decide trivial cases.”

Men Believe Law

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Philosophical

“Shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous. If men would steadily observe realities only, and not allow themselves to be deluded, life ... would be like a fairy tale and the Arabian Nights' Entertainments.”

Men Reality Night

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Philosophical

“It is not easy to make our lives respectable by any course of activity. We must repeatedly withdraw into our shells of thought, like the tortoise, somewhat helplessly; yet there is more than philosophy in that.”

Thinking Philosophy Philosophical

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Philosophical

“As our domestic fowls are said to have their original in the wild pheasant of India, so our domestic thoughts have their prototypes in the thoughts of her philosophers.”

Thinking Philosophical Thoughtful

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Henry David Thoreau — Philosophical Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quotes