--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Let us spend one day as deliberately as…" description: "\"“Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on the rails. Let us ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70b/henry-david-thoreau-20_business_let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as_3053675.jpg" --- # Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be… ![“Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on the rails. Let us rise early and fast, or break fast, gently and without perturbation; let company come and let company go, let the bells ring and the children cry…” quote by Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70b/henry-david-thoreau-20_business_let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as_3053675.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70b/henry-david-thoreau-20_business_let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as_3053675.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70b/henry-david-thoreau-20_business_let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as_3053675.jpg) > ““Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on the rails. Let us rise early and fast, or break fast, gently and without perturbation; let company come and let company go, let the bells ring and the children cry, -- determined to make a day of it. Why should we knock under and go with the stream? Let us not be upset and overwhelmed in that terrible rapid and whirlpool called a dinner, situated in the meridian shallows. Weather this danger and you are safe, for the rest of the way is down hill. With unrelaxed nerves, with morning vigor, sail by it, looking another way, tied to the mast like Ulysses. If the engine whistles, let it whistle till it is hoarse for its pains. If the bell rings, why should we run? We will consider what kind of music they are like. Let us settle ourselves, and work and wedge our feet downward through the mud and slush of opinion, and prejudice, and tradition, and delusion, and appearance, that alluvion which covers the globe, through Paris and London, through New York and Boston and Concord, through church and state, through poetry and philosophy and religion, till we come to a hard bottom and rocks in place, which we can call reality, and say, This is, and no mistake; and then begin, having a point d'appui, below freshet and frost and fire, a place where you might found a wall or a state, or set a lamp-post safely, or perhaps a gauge, not a Nilometer, but a Realometer, that future ages might know how deep a freshet of shams and appearances had gathered from time to time. If you stand right fronting and face to face to a fact, you will see the sun glimmer on both its surfaces, as if it were a cimeter, and feel its sweet edge dividing you through the heart and marrow, and so you will happily conclude your mortal career. Be it life or death, we crave only reality. If we are really dying, let us hear the rattle in our throats and feel cold in the extremities; if we are alive, let us go about our business. Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish in the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars. I cannot count one. I know not the first letter of the alphabet. I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born. The intellect is a cleaver; it discerns and rifts its way into the secret of things. I do not wish to be any more busy with my hands than is necessary. My head is hands and feet. I feel all my best faculties concentrated in it. My instinct tells me that my head is an organ for burrowing, as some creatures use their snout and fore-paws, and with it I would mine and burrow my way through these hills. I think that the richest vein is somewhere hereabouts; so by the divining rod and thin rising vapors I judge; and here I will begin to mine.”” [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. The passage urges deliberate, mindful living, resisting distractions and societal pressures to uncover deeper reality and truth. **In simple terms:** Live deliberately, cut through noise to find truth. Key Takeaway Embrace focus and seek reality. Themes mindfulness individualism reality resistance clarity Mood contemplative determined inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational reflective When to use this quote - personal reflection - academic study - creative writing - public speaking - spiritual practice Key Concepts existentialism nature philosophy critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate meaningful tradition from harmful tradition? - What practices help you stay grounded amid daily chaos? A Different Perspective It may idealize isolation and ignore communal interdependence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Church and state](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church-and-state/) [Face to face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-to-face/) [Life or death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-or-death/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Philosophy and religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-and-religion/) ## Related quotes > [Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as-nature-and-not-be-thrown-off/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as-nature/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as-nature-and-not-be-thrown-off-2/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Let us settle ourselves, and work and wedge our feet downwards through the mud and slush of opinion and tradition, and pride and prejudice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/let-us-settle-ourselves-and-work-and-wedge-our-feet-downwards-through/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“Let us settle ourselves, and work and wedge our feet downward through the mud and slush of opinion, and prejudice, and tradition, and delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/let-us-settle-ourselves-and-work-and-wedge-our-feet-downward-through/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“I like sometimes to take rank hold on life and spend my day more as the animals do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-like-sometimes-to-take-rank-hold-on-life-and-spend-my-day-more-as-2/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Man is a Religious Animal. 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Let us rise early and fast, or break fast, gently and without perturbation; let company come and let company go, let the bells ring and the children cry, -- determined to make a day of it. Why should we knock under and go with the stream? Let us not be upset and overwhelmed in that terrible rapid and whirlpool called a dinner, situated in the meridian shallows. Weather this danger and you are safe, for the rest of the way is down hill. With unrelaxed nerves, with morning vigor, sail by it, looking another way, tied to the mast like Ulysses. If the engine whistles, let it whistle till it is hoarse for its pains. If the bell rings, why should we run? We will consider what kind of music they are like. Let us settle ourselves, and work and wedge our feet downward through the mud and slush of opinion, and prejudice, and tradition, and delusion, and appearance, that alluvion which covers the globe, through Paris and London, through New York and Boston and Concord, through church and state, through poetry and philosophy and religion, till we come to a hard bottom and rocks in place, which we can call reality, and say, This is, and no mistake; and then begin, having a point d'appui, below freshet and frost and fire, a place where you might found a wall or a state, or set a lamp-post safely, or perhaps a gauge, not a Nilometer, but a Realometer, that future ages might know how deep a freshet of shams and appearances had gathered from time to time. If you stand right fronting and face to face to a fact, you will see the sun glimmer on both its surfaces, as if it were a cimeter, and feel its sweet edge dividing you through the heart and marrow, and so you will happily conclude your mortal career. Be it life or death, we crave only reality. If we are really dying, let us hear the rattle in our throats and feel cold in the extremities; if we are alive, let us go about our business. Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish in the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars. I cannot count one. I know not the first letter of the alphabet. I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born. The intellect is a cleaver; it discerns and rifts its way into the secret of things. I do not wish to be any more busy with my hands than is necessary. My head is hands and feet. I feel all my best faculties concentrated in it. My instinct tells me that my head is an organ for burrowing, as some creatures use their snout and fore-paws, and with it I would mine and burrow my way through these hills. I think that the richest vein is somewhere hereabouts; so by the divining rod and thin rising vapors I judge; and here I will begin to mine.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henry David Thoreau" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as-nature-and-not-be-thrown-off-3/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Business" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as-nature-and-not-be-thrown-off-3/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70b/henry-david-thoreau-20_business_let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as_3053675.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70b/henry-david-thoreau-20_business_let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as_3053675.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70b/henry-david-thoreau-20_business_let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as_3053675.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and…” — 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": "“Let us spend one day as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as-nature-and-not-be-thrown-off-3/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/let-us-spend-one-day-as-deliberately-as-nature-and-not-be-thrown-off-3/#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 } } ] } ```