Quotes from Henry David Thoreau

The three-o'-clock in the morning courage, which Bonaparte thought was the rarest.

It is true, I never assisted the sun materially in his rising, but doubt not, it was of the last importance only to be present at it.

As for me, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are now only the subtlest imaginable essences, which would not stain the morning sky.

Morning brings back the heroic ages.

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

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined...

Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations. For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live.

In the long run, we only hit what we aim at.

Nature is doing her best each moment to make us well. She exists for no other end. Do not resist. With the least inclination to be well, we should not be sick.

Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh.

The music of all creatures has to do with their loves, even of toads and frogs. Is it not the same with man?

Listen to music religiously, as if it were the last strain you might hear.

Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it.

Unpremeditated music is the true gauge which measures the current of our thoughts; the very undertow of our life's stream.

The bluebird carries the sky on his back.

The words which express our faith and piety are not definite; yet they are significant and fragrant like frankincense to superior natures.

Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up. Deal with brute nature. Be cold and hungry and weary.

The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly.

Morning is when I am awake and there is a dawn in me.

A lake is a landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.

One must maintain a little bittle of summer, even in the middle of winter.

Nature is slow, but sure; she works no faster than need be; she is the tortoise that wins the race by her perseverance.

A field of water betrays the spirit that is in the air. It is continually receiving new life and motion from above. It is intermediate in its nature between land and sky.

I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.