Spirit Quotes by Henry David Thoreau

For the most part, the best man's spirit makes a fearful sprite to haunt his grave.

— Henry David Thoreau

To act collectively is according to the spirit of our institutions.

— Henry David Thoreau

Methinks my own soul must be a bright invisible green.

— Henry David Thoreau

Where the most beautiful wild flowers grow, there mans spirit is fed and poets grow.

— Henry David Thoreau

A field of water betrays the spirit that is in the air. It is continually receiving new life and motion from above.…

— Henry David Thoreau

My spirits infallibly rise in proportion to the outward dreariness. Give me the ocean, the desert, or the wilderness!

— Henry David Thoreau

The earth I tread on is not a dead inert mass. It is a body, has a spirit; is organic and fluid…

— Henry David Thoreau

Every man casts a shadow; not his body only, but his imperfectly mingled spirit. This is his grief. Let him turn which…

— Henry David Thoreau

In my cheapest moments I am apt to think that it is n't my business to be "seeking the spirit," but as…

— Henry David Thoreau

We should go forth on the shortest walk, perchance in the spirit of undying adventure, never to return - sending back our…

— Henry David Thoreau

The strongest wind cannot stagger a Spirit; it is a Spirit's breath. A just man's purpose cannot be split on any Grampus…

— Henry David Thoreau

So far as inland discovery was concerned, the adventurous spirit of the English was that of sailors who land but for a…

— Henry David Thoreau

Yet some can be patriotic who have no self-respect, and sacrifice the greater to the less. They love the soil which makes…

— Henry David Thoreau

Where is the "unexplored land" but in our own untried enterprises? To an adventurous spirit any place--London, New York, Worcester, or his…

— Henry David Thoreau

Whose are the truly labored sentences? From the weak and flimsy periods of the politician and literary man, we are glad to…

— Henry David Thoreau

Perhaps of all our untamed quadrupeds, the fox has obtained the widest and most familiar reputation… His recent tracks still give variety…

— Henry David Thoreau

A true poem is distinguished not so much by a felicitous expression, or any thought it suggests, as by the atmosphere which…

— Henry David Thoreau

Of course it is of no use to direct our steps to the woods, if they do not carry us thither. I…

— Henry David Thoreau

All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil. The fight…

— Henry David Thoreau

Even the utmost good-will and harmony and practical kindness are not sufficient for Friendship, for Friends do not live in harmony merely,…

— Henry David Thoreau

Christ was a sublime actor on the stage of the world. He knew what he was thinking of when he said, "Heaven…

— Henry David Thoreau

But there are spirits of a yet more liberal culture, to whom no simplicity is barren. There are not only stately pines,…

— Henry David Thoreau

I am alarmed when it happens that I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit. In…

— Henry David Thoreau

Half the walk is but retracing our steps. We should go forth on the shortest walk, perchance, in the spirit of undying…

— Henry David Thoreau

Science with its retorts would have put me to sleep; it was the opportunity to be ignorant that I improved. It suggested…

— Henry David Thoreau

I do not wish to quarrel with any man or nation. I do not wish to split hairs, to make fine distinctions,…

— Henry David Thoreau

The Musketaquid, or Grass-ground River, though probably as old as the Nile or Euphrates, did not begin to have a place in…

— Henry David Thoreau

There are various tough problems yet to solve, and we must shift to live, betwixt spirit and matter, such a human life…

— Henry David Thoreau

Of what use were it, pray, to get a little wood to burn, to warm your body this cold weather, if there…

— Henry David Thoreau

True kindness is a pure divine affinity, Not founded upon human consanguinity. It is a spirit, not a blood relation, Superior to…

— Henry David Thoreau

I am alarmed when it happens that I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit.

— Henry David Thoreau

Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up.…

— Henry David Thoreau

I must walk toward Oregon, and not toward Europe. And that way the nation is moving, and I may say that mankind…

— Henry David Thoreau

I have seen some who did not know when to turn aside their eyes in meeting yours. A truly confident and magnanimous…

— Henry David Thoreau

Concord is just as idiotic as ever in relation to the spirits and their knockings. Most people here believe in a spiritual…

— Henry David Thoreau

Though my life is low, if my spirit looks upward habitually at an elevated angle, it is as if it were redeemed.…

— Henry David Thoreau

My desire for knowledge is intermittent; but my desire to commune with the spirit of the universe, to be intoxicated with the…

— Henry David Thoreau

I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least - and it…

— Henry David Thoreau

To read well, that is, to read true books in a true spirit, is a noble exercise, and one that will tax…

— Henry David Thoreau