---
title: "6 Composition Quotes By Henry David Thoreau"
description: "6 Composition quotes by Henry David Thoreau. Plus more from Henry David Thoreau and more Composition sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eca/henry-david-thoreau-20_being-the-best_a-person-who-chooses-to-die-or-to-risk-d_228393.jpg"
---

> [A person who chooses to die or to risk death demonstrates that there are values, principles, maxims, that are more valuable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-person-who-chooses-to-die-or-to-risk-death-demonstrates-that-there/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eca/henry-david-thoreau-20_being-the-best_a-person-who-chooses-to-die-or-to-risk-d_228393.jpg)

> [Nothing goes by luck in composition. It allows of no tricks. The best you can write will be the best you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/nothing-goes-by-luck-in-composition-it-allows-of-no-tricks-the-best/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/376/henry-david-thoreau-20_composition_nothing-goes-by-luck-in-composition-it-a_823458.jpg)

> [I live in the angle of a leaden wall, into whose composition was poured a little alloy of bell-metal. Often, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-live-in-the-angle-of-a-leaden-wall-into-whose-composition-was/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/henry-david-thoreau-20_angle_i-live-in-the-angle-of-a-leaden-wall-int_2414651.jpg)

> [A journal is a repository for all those fragmentary ideas and odd scraps of information that might otherwise be lost and which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-journal-is-a-repository-for-all-those-fragmentary-ideas-and-odd/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dda/henry-david-thoreau-20_composition_a-journal-is-a-repository-for-all-those_2884798.jpg)

> [Literary gentlemen, editors, and critics think that they know how to write, because they have studied grammar and rhetoric; but they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/literary-gentlemen-editors-and-critics-think-that-they-know-how-to/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf0/henry-david-thoreau-20_action_literary-gentlemen-editors-and-critics-t_2934776.jpg)

> [We should read history as little critically as we consider the landscape, and be more interested by the atmospheric tints and various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-should-read-history-as-little-critically-as-we-consider-the/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a0/henry-david-thoreau-20_composition_we-should-read-history-as-little-critica_3003049.jpg)

## Other authors on Composition

## More by Henry David Thoreau

> [If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-ever-i-did-a-man-any-goodof-course-it-was-something-exceptional/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [“Men say they know many things; But lo! they have taken wings, — The arts and sciences, And a thousand appliances; The wind that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-say-they-know-many-things-but-lo-they-have-taken-wings-the-arts/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [I am not afraid of praise, for I have practiced it on myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-am-not-afraid-of-praise-for-i-have-practiced-it-on-myself/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or back gammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/all-voting-is-a-sort-of-gaming-like-checkers-or-back-gammon-with-a/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [“This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/this-spending-of-the-best-part-of-one-s-life-earning-money-in-order/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-for-doing-good-that-is-one-of-the-professions-which-is-full/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [A traveler who looks at things with an impartial eye may see what the oldest inhabitant has not observed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-traveler-who-looks-at-things-with-an-impartial-eye-may-see-what-the/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/in-proportion-as-our-inward-life-fails-we-go-more-constantly-and/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-had-three-chairs-in-my-house-one-for-solitude-two-for-friendship/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [The still youthful energies of the globe have only to be directed in their proper channel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-still-youthful-energies-of-the-globe-have-only-to-be-directed-in/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [Concord's little arch does not span all our fate, nor is what transpires under it law for the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/concord-s-little-arch-does-not-span-all-our-fate-nor-is-what/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [The lumberers rarely trouble themselves to put out their fires, such is the dampness of the primitive forest; and this is one cause, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-lumberers-rarely-trouble-themselves-to-put-out-their-fires-such/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [“When he has obtained those things which are necessary to life, there is another alternative than to obtain the superfluities; and that is, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-he-has-obtained-those-things-which-are-necessary-to-life-there/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [Wealth is measured by the level of experience in all aspects of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/wealth-is-measured-by-the-level-of-experience-in-all-aspects-of-life/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

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