--- title: "4 Corners Quotes By Henry David Thoreau" description: "4 Corners quotes by Henry David Thoreau. Plus more from Henry David Thoreau and more Corners sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/henry-david-thoreau-20_baskets_we-are-constituted-a-good-deal-like-chic_60123.jpg" --- > [We are constituted a good deal like chickens, which, taken from the hen, and put in a basket of cotton in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-are-constituted-a-good-deal-like-chickens-which-taken-from-the-hen/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/henry-david-thoreau-20_baskets_we-are-constituted-a-good-deal-like-chic_60123.jpg) > [Perfect alchemists I keep who can transmute substances without end, and thus the corner of my garden is an inexhaustible treasure-chest. Here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/perfect-alchemists-i-keep-who-can-transmute-substances-without-end/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/321/henry-david-thoreau-20_alchemist_perfect-alchemists-i-keep-who-can-transm_224591.jpg) > [I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-went-to-the-woods-because-i-wished-to-live-deliberately-to-front/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6a/henry-david-thoreau-20_broads_i-went-to-the-woods-because-i-wished-to_374042.jpg) > [Have you not budged an inch, then? Such is the daily news. Its facts appear to float in the atmosphere… We should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/have-you-not-budged-an-inch-then-such-is-the-daily-news-its-facts/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/265/henry-david-thoreau-20_amusement_have-you-not-budged-an-inch-then-such-is_2622136.jpg) ## Other authors on Corners ## 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/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corners/henry-david-thoreau/#itemlist", "name": "4 Corners Quotes By Henry David Thoreau", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are constituted a good deal like chickens, which, taken from the hen, and put in a basket of cotton in the chimney-corner, willoften peep till they die, nevertheless; but if you put in a book, or anything heavy, which will press down the cotton, and feel like the hen, they go to sleep directly.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henry David Thoreau" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-are-constituted-a-good-deal-like-chickens-which-taken-from-the-hen/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/henry-david-thoreau-20_baskets_we-are-constituted-a-good-deal-like-chic_60123.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/henry-david-thoreau-20_baskets_we-are-constituted-a-good-deal-like-chic_60123.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/henry-david-thoreau-20_baskets_we-are-constituted-a-good-deal-like-chic_60123.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are constituted a good deal like chickens, which, taken from the hen, and put in a basket of cotton in…” — Henry David Thoreau", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Perfect alchemists I keep who can transmute substances without end, and thus the corner of my garden is an inexhaustible treasure-chest. Here you can dig, not gold, but the value which gold merely represents; and there is no Signor Blitz about it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henry David Thoreau" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/perfect-alchemists-i-keep-who-can-transmute-substances-without-end/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/321/henry-david-thoreau-20_alchemist_perfect-alchemists-i-keep-who-can-transm_224591.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/321/henry-david-thoreau-20_alchemist_perfect-alchemists-i-keep-who-can-transm_224591.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/321/henry-david-thoreau-20_alchemist_perfect-alchemists-i-keep-who-can-transm_224591.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Perfect alchemists I keep who can transmute substances without end, and thus the corner of my garden is an…” — Henry David Thoreau", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henry David Thoreau" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-went-to-the-woods-because-i-wished-to-live-deliberately-to-front/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6a/henry-david-thoreau-20_broads_i-went-to-the-woods-because-i-wished-to_374042.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6a/henry-david-thoreau-20_broads_i-went-to-the-woods-because-i-wished-to_374042.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6a/henry-david-thoreau-20_broads_i-went-to-the-woods-because-i-wished-to_374042.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and…” — Henry David Thoreau", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Have you not budged an inch, then? Such is the daily news. Its facts appear to float in the atmosphere… We should wash ourselves clean of such news. Of what consequence, though our planet explode, if there is no character involved in the explosion? In health we have not the least curiosity about such events. We do not live for idle amusement. 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