Quotes About Independence

I would not have any one adopt my mode of living on any account; for, beside that before he has fairly learned it I may have found out another for myself, I desire that there may be as many different persons in the world as possible; but I would have each one be very careful to find out and pursue his own way, and not his father's or his mother's or his neighbor's instead.

But I retained the landscape, and I have since annually carried off what it yielded without a wheelbarrow.

There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men.

There are old heads in the world who cannot help me by their example or advice to live worthily and satisfactorily to myself; but I believe that it is in my power to elevate myself this very hour above the common level of my life.

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. I wondered that it should have concluded at length that this was the best use it could put me to, and had never thought to avail itself of my services in some way.

That government is best which governs least; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe—That government is best which governs not at all; and

To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust. It is to solve some of the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically.

The youth may build or plant or sail, only let him not be hindered from doing that which he tells me he would like to do. It is by a mathematical point only that we are wise, as the sailor or the fugitive slave keeps the polestar in his eye; but that is sufficient guidance for all our life. We may not arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we would preserve the true course.

Le meilleur gouvernement est celui qui ne gouverne pas du tout; et quand les hommes y seront prêts, tel sera le genres de gouvernement qu'ils auront. Un gouvernement, au mieux, n'est qu'un expédient ; mais la plupart d'entre eux sont d'habitude, et tous les gouvernements sont quelquefois nuisibles.

Let men cultivate the moral affections, lead manly independent lives; let them make riches the means and not the end of existence, and we shall hear no more of the commercial spirit. . . . This curious world which we inhabit is more wonderful than it is convenient; more beautiful than it is useful; it is more to be admired and enjoyed than used.

I rejoice that horses and steers have to be broken before they can be made the slaves of men, and that men themselves have some wild oats still left to sow before they become submissive members of society.

out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe--That government is best which governs not at all;

No wealth can buy the requisite leisure, freedom, and independence which are the capital in this profession.

I take all these walks to every point of the compass, and it is always harvest-time with me. I am always gathering my crop from these woods and fields and waters, and no man is in my way or interferes with me. My crop is not their crop. I am not gathering beans and corn. Do they think there are no fruits but such as these?

I heartily accept the motto, That government is best which governs least; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe—That government is best which governs not at all; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.

I desire that there may be as many different persons in the world as possible; but I would have each one, be very careful to find out and pursue his own way, and not his father's or his mother's or his neighbor's instead.

VýstrednosÃ…Â¥, premrÅ¡tenosÃ…Â¥ - tá predsa závislý od toho, aká ohrada vás zväzuje.

Acho saudável ficar sozinho a maior parte do tempo. Ter companhia, mesmo a melhor delas, logo cansa e desgasta

the man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready, and it may be a long time before they get off.

I am wont to think that men are not so much the keepers of herds as herds are the keepers of men, the former are so much the freer.

You must live within yourself, and depend upon yourself always tucked up and ready for a start, and not have many affairs.

I never found the companion that was so companionable than solitude.

I heartily accept the motto,—That government is best which governs least; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe,—That government is best which governs not at all; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government

When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my hands only.