Henry David Thoreau Quotes

A collection of quotes by Henry David Thoreau.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American essayist, philosopher, and naturalist, best known for his book "Walden" and his essay "Civil Disobedience." He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, where he spent the majority of his life.

Thoreau was known for his deep connection to nature and his belief in the importance of individuality and self-reliance. He graduated from Harvard University in 1837 and began working as a teacher. However, he soon left the profession to focus on his writing and philosophical pursuits.

In the summer of 1845, Thoreau embarked on a two-year experiment living in a small cabin he built himself on the shores of Walden Pond. This experience formed the basis of his most famous work, "Walden," which explores his reflections on nature, simplicity, and the pursuit of a meaningful life.

Thoreau was also a staunch advocate for social and political reform. His essay "Civil Disobedience" influenced many famous figures, including Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., and laid the groundwork for the concept of nonviolent resistance.

Throughout his life, Thoreau challenged societal norms and advocated for the preservation of the natural world. His writings continue to inspire and engage readers with their insights into the relationship between humanity, nature, and the pursuit of a meaningful existence.

Some of you, we all know, are poor, find it hard to live, are sometimes, as it were, gasping for breath. I have no doubt that some of you who read this book are unable to pay for all the dinners which you have actually eaten, or for the coats and shoes which are fast wearing or are already worn out, and have come to this page to spend borrowed or stolen time, robbing your creditors of an hour. It is very evident what mean and sneaking lives many of you live, for my sight has been whetted by experience; always on the limits, trying to get into business and trying to get out of debt, a very ancient slough, called by the Latins aes alienum, another's brass, for some of their coins were made of brass; still living, and dying, and buried by this other's brass; always promising to pay, promising to pay, tomorrow, and dying today, insolvent; seeking to curry favor, to get custom, by how many modes, only not state-prison offences; lying, flattering, voting, contracting yourselves into a nutshell of civility or dilating into an atmosphere of thin and vaporous generosity, that you may persuade your neighbor to let you make his shoes, or his hat, or his coat, or his carriage, or import his groceries for him; making yourselves sick, that you may lay up something against a sick day, something to be tucked away in an old chest, or in a stocking behind the plastering, or, more safely, in the brick bank; no matter where, no matter how much or how little.

Henry David Thoreau