--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I keep a mountain anchored off eastward a…" description: "\"I keep a mountain anchored off eastward a little way, which I ascend in my dreams both awake and asleep. Its broad base spreads over a village or two, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f7/henry-david-thoreau-20_altars_i-keep-a-mountain-anchored-off-eastward_3174610.jpg" --- # I keep a mountain anchored off eastward a little way… ![“I keep a mountain anchored off eastward a little way, which I ascend in my dreams both awake and asleep. Its broad base spreads over a village or two, which does not know it; neither does it know them, nor do I when I ascend it. I can see its general outline as plainly now in my mind as that of…” quote by Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f7/henry-david-thoreau-20_altars_i-keep-a-mountain-anchored-off-eastward_3174610.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f7/henry-david-thoreau-20_altars_i-keep-a-mountain-anchored-off-eastward_3174610.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f7/henry-david-thoreau-20_altars_i-keep-a-mountain-anchored-off-eastward_3174610.jpg) > “I keep a mountain anchored off eastward a little way, which I ascend in my dreams both awake and asleep. Its broad base spreads over a village or two, which does not know it; neither does it know them, nor do I when I ascend it. I can see its general outline as plainly now in my mind as that of Wachusett. I do not invent in the least, but state exactly what I see. I find that I go up it when I am light-footed and earnest. It ever smokes like an altar with its sacrifice. I am not aware that a single villager frequents it or knows of it. I keep this mountain to ride instead of a horse.” [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. Imagining a personal mountain symbolizes inner aspirations that guide dreams and actions. **In simple terms:** Imagined goals guide inner journeys. Key Takeaway Visualize and pursue inner aspirations. Themes imagination aspiration inner journey Mood contemplative inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - goal setting - creative visualization - mindfulness - personal growth Key Concepts symbolism self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - What personal mountain are you climbing? - How can you make your vision tangible? A Different Perspective Dreams may stay abstract without concrete steps. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Altars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/altars/) [Awake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awake/) [Broads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broads/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Earnest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earnest/) [Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horse/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Knows Mountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows-mountain-5792620/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind Wachusett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-wachusett-5792619/) [Mountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountain/) [Mountain Anchored](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountain-anchored-5792618/) [Outlines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outlines/) [Sacrifice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacrifice/) [Smoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smoke/) [Spread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spread/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Village](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/village/) [Vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [A true poem is distinguished not so much by a felicitous expression, or any thought it suggests, as by the atmosphere which surrounds it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-true-poem-is-distinguished-not-so-much-by-a-felicitous-expression/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Color, which is the poet's wealth, is so expensive that most take to mere outline sketches and become men of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/color-which-is-the-poet-s-wealth-is-so-expensive-that-most-take-to/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The divinity in man is the true vestal fire of the temple which is never permitted to go out, but burns as steadily and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-divinity-in-man-is-the-true-vestal-fire-of-the-temple-which-is/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I should consider it a greater success to interest one wise and earnest soul, than a million unwise and frivolous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-should-consider-it-a-greater-success-to-interest-one-wise-and/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The English did not come to America from a mere love of adventure, nor to truck with or convert the savages, nor to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-english-did-not-come-to-america-from-a-mere-love-of-adventure-nor/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The chief want, in every state that I have been into, was a high and earnest purpose in its inhabitants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-chief-want-in-every-state-that-i-have-been-into-was-a-high-and/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [We seem to have forgotten that the expression "a liberal education" originally meant among the Romans one worthy of free men; while the learning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-seem-to-have-forgotten-that-the-expression-a-liberal-education/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Every man who has ever been earnest to preserve his higher or poetic faculties in the best condition, has been particularly inclined to abstain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/every-man-who-has-ever-been-earnest-to-preserve-his-higher-or-poetic/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What is the price-current of an honest man and patriot to-day? They hesitate, and they regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/what-is-the-price-current-of-an-honest-man-and-patriot-to-day-they/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I love nature, I love the landscape, because it is so sincere. It never cheats me. It never jests. 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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. 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No one knows this better than we do, but we are not such fools…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-booth/there-are-different-kinds-of-fire-there-is-false-fire-no-one-knows/) [William Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-booth/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [he cult of productivity has its place, but worshipping at its altar daily robs us of the very capacity for joy and wonder that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-popova/he-cult-of-productivity-has-its-place-but-worshipping-at-its-altar/) [Maria Popova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-popova/) > [This is the sacrifice: the endless possibility that is offered up on the altar of the form...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/this-is-the-sacrifice-the-endless-possibility-that-is-offered-up-on/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [When a buddha is painted, not only a clay altar or lump of earth is used, but the thirty-two marks, a blade of grass,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/when-a-buddha-is-painted-not-only-a-clay-altar-or-lump-of-earth-is/) [Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/) > [Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God, first fill your own house with the fragrance of love. Go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/go-not-to-the-temple-to-put-flowers-upon-the-feet-of-god-first-fill/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [And in any preaching you do, admonish the people concerning repentance, and that nobody can be saved except he who receives the most holy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-of-assisi/and-in-any-preaching-you-do-admonish-the-people-concerning-repentance/) [Francis of Assisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-of-assisi/) > [Yes, thou art ever present, power divine; not circumscribed by time, nor fixed by space, confined to altars, nor to temples bound. In wealth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/yes-thou-art-ever-present-power-divine-not-circumscribed-by-time-nor/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [The revolting details of childbirth had been hidden from me with such care that I was as surprised as I was horrified, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-curchod/the-revolting-details-of-childbirth-had-been-hidden-from-me-with-such/) [Suzanne Curchod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-curchod/) > [Heroism, self-denial, and magnanimity, in all instances where they do not spring from a principle of religion, are but splendid altars on which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/heroism-self-denial-and-magnanimity-in-all-instances-where-they-do/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [It is by far the most elegant worship, hardly excepting the Greek mythology. 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Its broad base spreads over a village or two, which does not know it; neither does it know them, nor do I when I ascend it. I can see its general outline as plainly now in my mind as that of Wachusett. I do not invent in the least, but state exactly what I see. I find that I go up it when I am light-footed and earnest. It ever smokes like an altar with its sacrifice. I am not aware that a single villager frequents it or knows of it. 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