--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is, however, this consolation to…" description: "\"There is, however, this consolation to the most way-worn traveler, upon the dustiest road, that the path his feet describe is so perfectly symbolical o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/283/henry-david-thoreau-20_climbing_there-is-however-this-consolation-to-the_3094238.jpg" --- # There is, however, this consolation to the most way-worn… ![“There is, however, this consolation to the most way-worn traveler, upon the dustiest road, that the path his feet describe is so perfectly symbolical of human life,--now climbing the hills, now descending into the vales. From the summits he beholds the heavens and the horizon, from the vales he…” quote by Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/283/henry-david-thoreau-20_climbing_there-is-however-this-consolation-to-the_3094238.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/283/henry-david-thoreau-20_climbing_there-is-however-this-consolation-to-the_3094238.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/283/henry-david-thoreau-20_climbing_there-is-however-this-consolation-to-the_3094238.jpg) > “There is, however, this consolation to the most way-worn traveler, upon the dustiest road, that the path his feet describe is so perfectly symbolical of human life,--now climbing the hills, now descending into the vales. From the summits he beholds the heavens and the horizon, from the vales he looks up to the heights again. He is treading his old lessons still, and though he may be very weary and travel-worn, it is yet sincere experience.” [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. Life’s journey mirrors nature’s cycles of ascent and descent, teaching perseverance through varied experiences **In simple terms:** Life is like climbing hills and valleys Key Takeaway Embrace both highs and lows Themes growth resilience nature journey Mood contemplative inspirational Type literary reflective When to use this quote - travel - personal growth - reflection - endurance Key Concepts cyclical patterns human experience Questions to Reflect On - What valley are you currently in? - How do you find meaning in the ascent? A Different Perspective Not all lessons are learned equally ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Climbing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climbing/) [Climbing Hills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climbing-hills-3787269/) [Consolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consolation/) [Descending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/descending/) [Descending Vales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/descending-vales-5334769/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Feet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feet/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Height](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/height/) [Hills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hills/) [Hills Descending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hills-descending-5334770/) [Horizon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horizon/) [Human life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lessons/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-experience/) [Look up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look-up/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/path/) [Sincere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sincere/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Summit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/summit/) [Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel/) [Traveler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traveler/) [Treading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treading/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Weary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weary/) [Weary Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weary-travel-2901848/) [Worn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worn/) [Worn it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worn-it-209144/) [Worn Traveler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worn-traveler-5334771/) ## Related quotes > [“How heavy do I journey on the way, When what I seek, my weary travel's end, Doth teach that ease and that repose to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/how-heavy-do-i-journey-on-the-way-when-what-i-seek-my-weary-travel-s/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [My rhyming skills got you climbing hills, I'll travel through your mind into your spine like siren drills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eminem/my-rhyming-skills-got-you-climbing-hills-i-ll-travel-through-your/) [Eminem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eminem/) > [“Climbing hills was never one of my great ambitions. Perhaps I was just lazy, but I admit--now that I've been climbing a hill every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/climbing-hills-was-never-one-of-my-great-ambitions-perhaps-i-was-just/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [Why do you climb philosophical hills? Because they are worth climbing . . . There are no hills to go down unless you start from the top.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/why-do-you-climb-philosophical-hills-because-they-are-worth-climbing/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [I think you'd have to be a pretty brave man to say "never go out of style," but men's suiting has been relatively stable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-grant/i-think-you-d-have-to-be-a-pretty-brave-man-to-say-never-go-out-of/) [Patrick Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-grant/) > [I've worn it to church before. Camouflage and the other clothes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/si-robertson/i-ve-worn-it-to-church-before-camouflage-and-the-other-clothes/) [Si Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/si-robertson/) > [Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned or worn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/happiness-cannot-be-traveled-to-owned-earned-or-worn/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [Where ruts have not yet been worn, it requires less effort to stay out of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-boorstin/where-ruts-have-not-yet-been-worn-it-requires-less-effort-to-stay-out/) [Daniel J. Boorstin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-boorstin/) > [The Kobe 8 is about enhanced performance. It's the most comfortable shoe I have worn. It's simplistic but has an edge to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobe-bryant/the-kobe-8-is-about-enhanced-performance-it-s-the-most-comfortable/) [Kobe Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobe-bryant/) > [One of the reasons I appreciate being in a Pirates uniform is the greats who have worn it in the past. There was Bill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-mccutchen/one-of-the-reasons-i-appreciate-being-in-a-pirates-uniform-is-the/) [Andrew McCutchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-mccutchen/) ## 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 Climbing quotes > [I'm always climbing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-caldwell/i-m-always-climbing/) [Tommy Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-caldwell/) > [There is nothing to do, just be. Do nothing. Be. No climbing mountains and sitting in caves. I do not even say "be yourself"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/there-is-nothing-to-do-just-be-do-nothing-be-no-climbing-mountains/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [I liked climbing trees and could often be found up one reading a book. I played games with Dad and drew maps for him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhianna-pratchett/i-liked-climbing-trees-and-could-often-be-found-up-one-reading-a-book/) [Rhianna Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhianna-pratchett/) > [Classic mountaineering grows out of a traditional romantic imagination. Its heart is the feeling, its path is blood, sweat and tears, and its restriction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wojciech-kurtyka/classic-mountaineering-grows-out-of-a-traditional-romantic/) [Wojciech Kurtyka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wojciech-kurtyka/) > [Placing my buttocks on a cold toilet seat is my climbing Mount Everest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/placing-my-buttocks-on-a-cold-toilet-seat-is-my-climbing-mount-everest/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Splutter, splutter. Yes - we're off - we're rising. But why start off with an engine like that? But it smooths out now, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/splutter-splutter-yes-we-re-off-we-re-rising-but-why-start-off-with/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The ascent of any route begins, in dreams at least, the autumn before. Our minds ring, involuntarily, with the alluring names of mountains, aiguilles,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-rebuffat/the-ascent-of-any-route-begins-in-dreams-at-least-the-autumn-before/) [Gaston Rebuffat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-rebuffat/) > [“Climbing mattered. The danger bathed the world in a halogen glow that caused everything—the sweep of the rock, the orange and yellow lichens, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-krakauer/climbing-mattered-the-danger-bathed-the-world-in-a-halogen-glow-that/) [Jon Krakauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-krakauer/) > [The difference between a mountain and a molehill is your perspective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-neuharth/the-difference-between-a-mountain-and-a-molehill-is-your-perspective/) [Al Neuharth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-neuharth/) > [While cares will drop off like autumn leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/while-cares-will-drop-off-like-autumn-leaves/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Climbing has worked for me in a number of ways on Capitol Hill. I'm much more inclined to look at what people do, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-udall/climbing-has-worked-for-me-in-a-number-of-ways-on-capitol-hill-i-m/) [Mark Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-udall/) > [I love finding something. For me it's not just about the athletic challenge, it's about finding new things. When I'm not doing that in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-sharma/i-love-finding-something-for-me-it-s-not-just-about-the-athletic/) [Chris Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-sharma/) > [I'm a man's man. I go out climbing and live outdoors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-mccann/i-m-a-man-s-man-i-go-out-climbing-and-live-outdoors/) [Rory McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-mccann/) > [The things that inform student culture are created and controlled by the unseen culture, the sociological aspects of our climbing culture, our 'me' generation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/the-things-that-inform-student-culture-are-created-and-controlled-by/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [For me, the most relevant factor in my ability to perform well on the rock has to do with my love of climbing. After…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-hill/for-me-the-most-relevant-factor-in-my-ability-to-perform-well-on-the/) [Lynn Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-hill/) [Browse all 1,082 Climbing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climbing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is, however, this consolation to the most way-worn traveler, upon the dustiest road, that the path his feet describe is so perfectly symbolical of human life,--now climbing the hills, now descending into the vales. From the summits he beholds the heavens and the horizon, from the vales he looks up to the heights again. 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