Henry David Thoreau

The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.

Henry David Thoreau

The fibers of all things have their tension and are strained like the strings of an instrument.

Henry David Thoreau

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.

Henry David Thoreau

The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.

Henry David Thoreau

The first pleasant days of spring come out like a squirrel and go in again.

Henry David Thoreau

The flowers of the apple are perhaps the most beautiful of any tree’s, so copious and so delicious to both sight and scent.

Henry David Thoreau

The friend asks no return but that his friend will religiously accept and wear and not disgrace his apotheosis of him. They cherish each other’s hopes. They are kind to each other’s dreams.

Henry David Thoreau

The frontiers are not east or west, north or south, but wherever a man fronts a fact.

Henry David Thoreau

The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?

Henry David Thoreau

There is but one stage for the peasant and the actor.

Henry David Thoreau