--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do not know at first what it is that…" description: "\"I do not know at first what it is that harms me. The men and things of to-day are wont to be fairer and truer in to-morrow's memory.\" — Henry David Tho..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b8/henry-david-thoreau-20_appreciation_i-do-not-know-at-first-what-it-is-that-h_482875.jpg" --- # I do not know at first what it is that harms me. The men… ![“I do not know at first what it is that harms me. The men and things of to-day are wont to be fairer and truer in to-morrow's memory.” quote by Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b8/henry-david-thoreau-20_appreciation_i-do-not-know-at-first-what-it-is-that-h_482875.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b8/henry-david-thoreau-20_appreciation_i-do-not-know-at-first-what-it-is-that-h_482875.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b8/henry-david-thoreau-20_appreciation_i-do-not-know-at-first-what-it-is-that-h_482875.jpg) > “I do not know at first what it is that harms me. The men and things of to-day are wont to be fairer and truer in to-morrow's memory.” [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. He initially cannot identify his harms; present injustices seem fairer in future memory. **In simple terms:** He didn’t know his harms; future seems fairer. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about present vs. future fairness. Themes perception time justice Mood contemplative critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - social critique - ethical debates Key Concepts subjectivity historical memory self‑awareness Questions to Reflect On - How do you discern true harm now? - What makes past judgments seem fairer? A Different Perspective Future idealization can obscure current issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Appreciation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appreciation/) [Harm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harm/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [“To know makes me grow Not to know harms me To forget frees me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/to-know-makes-me-grow-not-to-know-harms-me-to-forget-frees-me/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [When a man gives way to anger, he only harms himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/when-a-man-gives-way-to-anger-he-only-harms-himself/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Love always harms for human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taniram-jamoh-nino/love-always-harms-for-human-life/) [Taniram Jamoh Nino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taniram-jamoh-nino/) > [I just try to do me and stay out of harms way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakim/i-just-try-to-do-me-and-stay-out-of-harms-way/) [Rakim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakim/) > [Get out of harms way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/get-out-of-harms-way/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Your enemy is not the one who harms you, but the one who makes you evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/your-enemy-is-not-the-one-who-harms-you-but-the-one-who-makes-you-evil/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [When I sent young men and women into harms way, I always understand that that is the last resort, not the first resort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/when-i-sent-young-men-and-women-into-harms-way-i-always-understand/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [None can cure their harms by wailing them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/none-can-cure-their-harms-by-wailing-them/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Nobody wants to tell a truth which harms himself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/nobody-wants-to-tell-a-truth-which-harms-himself/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [I think Medicaid harms people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-sasse/i-think-medicaid-harms-people/) [Ben Sasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-sasse/) > [No one can crave what truly harms him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/no-one-can-crave-what-truly-harms-him/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [If a man goes a little too far along a new road, it is usually himself that he harms more than any one else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/if-a-man-goes-a-little-too-far-along-a-new-road-it-is-usually-himself/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [It is not enough that our life is an easy one. We must live on the stretch, retiring to our rest like soldiers on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/it-is-not-enough-that-our-life-is-an-easy-one-we-must-live-on-the/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true to-day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/no-way-of-thinking-or-doing-however-ancient-can-be-trusted-without-3/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Who knows what beautiful and winged life, whose egg has been buried for ages under many concretic layers of woodenness in the dead dry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/who-knows-what-beautiful-and-winged-life-whose-egg-has-been-buried/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## 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 Appreciation quotes > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [The writings of latter-day prophets clearly teach that the sorrows and sufferings endured by Adam and Eve upon their leaving the Garden of Eden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-k-judd/the-writings-of-latter-day-prophets-clearly-teach-that-the-sorrows/) Daniel K Judd > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [A very small percentage of the people in this world will actually experience and live today. So many people will be stuck on another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/a-very-small-percentage-of-the-people-in-this-world-will-actually/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) > [Stop chasing the things you want and embrace all that you already have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/stop-chasing-the-things-you-want-and-embrace-all-that-you-already-have/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Appreciation is the purest vibration that exists on the planet today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/appreciation-is-the-purest-vibration-that-exists-on-the-planet-today/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [“My thank-yous always come out rather labored. I often don't give them at all. People do what they're supposed to do and then wait…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/my-thank-yous-always-come-out-rather-labored-i-often-don-t-give-them/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [“Like gratitude, authentic appreciation in the workplace is a realisation that can be nurtured and accessed with daily mindful practice. By and large, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dines/like-gratitude-authentic-appreciation-in-the-workplace-is-a/) [Christopher Dines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dines/) > [Think of your mind, your emotions, and your spirit as the ultimate garden. The way to ensure a bountiful, nourishing harvest is to plant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/think-of-your-mind-your-emotions-and-your-spirit-as-the-ultimate/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [“Recognize and appreciate little things, and enjoy what Life has to offer”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-nikko-caharian-iii/recognize-and-appreciate-little-things-and-enjoy-what-life-has-to/) Cesar Nikko Caharian III > [Men, when it comes to women, value diamonds and put no stock into copper. Diamonds are rare. You can find copper anywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enhance-dreams/men-when-it-comes-to-women-value-diamonds-and-put-no-stock-into/) Enhance Dreams > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [Be very slow to believe that you are wiser than all others; it is a fatal but common error. Where one has been saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/be-very-slow-to-believe-that-you-are-wiser-than-all-others-it-is-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) [Browse all 2,528 Appreciation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appreciation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I do not know at first what it is that harms me. 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