--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Any nobleness begins at once to refine a…" description: "\"“Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man's features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them.”\" — Henry David Thoreau" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/897/henry-david-thoreau-20_character_any-nobleness-begins-at-once-to-refine-a_2191091.jpg" --- # Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man's features… ![“Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man's features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them.” quote by Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/897/henry-david-thoreau-20_character_any-nobleness-begins-at-once-to-refine-a_2191091.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/897/henry-david-thoreau-20_character_any-nobleness-begins-at-once-to-refine-a_2191091.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/897/henry-david-thoreau-20_character_any-nobleness-begins-at-once-to-refine-a_2191091.jpg) > ““Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man's features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them.”” [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Nobility refines character, while meanness and sensuality degrade it, urging moral self‑improvement. **In simple terms:** Virtue refines;vices corrupt. Key Takeaway Cultivate virtue, avoid vice. Themes morality character self‑improvement Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - personal growth - leadership - literary analysis Key Concepts philosophy ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can one practice continual refinement? - What habits nurture nobility? A Different Perspective Human nature resists change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Flesh and blood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flesh-and-blood/) [Meanness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meanness/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Sensuality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensuality/) ## Related quotes > [We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones. Any nobleness begins at once to refine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-are-all-sculptors-and-painters-and-our-material-is-our-own-flesh-2/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Every man is the builder of a temple, called his body, to the god he worships, after a style purely his own, nor can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/every-man-is-the-builder-of-a-temple-called-his-body-to-the-god-he-2/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [In our daily intercourse with men, our nobler faculties are dormant and suffered to rust. None will pay us the compliment to expect nobleness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/in-our-daily-intercourse-with-men-our-nobler-faculties-are-dormant/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [We should never stand upon ceremony with sincerity. We should never cheat and insult and banish one another by our meanness, if there were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-should-never-stand-upon-ceremony-with-sincerity-we-should-never/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-wanted-to-live-deep-and-suck-out-all-the-marrow-of-life-to-live-so-2/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [White Pond and Walden are great crystals on the surface of the earth, Lakes of Light… They are too pure to have a market…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/white-pond-and-walden-are-great-crystals-on-the-surface-of-the-earth/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-are-all-sculptors-and-painters-and-our-material-is-our-own-flesh/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [O beautiful for spacious skies, . . . O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved, And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-lee-bates/o-beautiful-for-spacious-skies-o-beautiful-for-heroes-proved-in/) [Katharine Lee Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-lee-bates/) > [Be NOBLE! and the nobleness that liesIn other men, sleeping, but never dead,Will rise in majesty to meet thine own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/be-noble-and-the-nobleness-that-liesin-other-men-sleeping-but-never/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [Withal I did infer your lineaments, Being the right idea of your father, Both in your form and nobleness of mind; Laid open all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/withal-i-did-infer-your-lineaments-being-the-right-idea-of-your/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There are epidemics of nobleness as well as epidemics of disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-anthony-froude/there-are-epidemics-of-nobleness-as-well-as-epidemics-of-disease/) [James Anthony Froude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-anthony-froude/) > [Ambition is the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/ambition-is-the-germ-from-which-all-growth-of-nobleness-proceeds/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [There is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness, in work. Were he never so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/there-is-a-perennial-nobleness-and-even-sacredness-in-work-were-he/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [“She laughed and said not to confuse pride with nobleness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brom/she-laughed-and-said-not-to-confuse-pride-with-nobleness/) [Brom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brom/) > [I am speaking now of the highest duty we owe our friends, the noblest, the most sacred - that of keeping their own nobleness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/i-am-speaking-now-of-the-highest-duty-we-owe-our-friends-the-noblest/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) ## 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/) [Explore all 3,376 Henry David Thoreau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) David Hudgins > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man's features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henry David Thoreau" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/any-nobleness-begins-at-once-to-refine-a-man-s-features-any-meanness/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Character" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/any-nobleness-begins-at-once-to-refine-a-man-s-features-any-meanness/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/897/henry-david-thoreau-20_character_any-nobleness-begins-at-once-to-refine-a_2191091.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/897/henry-david-thoreau-20_character_any-nobleness-begins-at-once-to-refine-a_2191091.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/897/henry-david-thoreau-20_character_any-nobleness-begins-at-once-to-refine-a_2191091.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man's features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them.” — Henry David Thoreau", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Henry David Thoreau", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Any nobleness begins at once to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/any-nobleness-begins-at-once-to-refine-a-man-s-features-any-meanness/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/any-nobleness-begins-at-once-to-refine-a-man-s-features-any-meanness/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```