If it is surely the means to the highest end we know, can any work be humble or disgusting? Will it not rather be elevating as a ladder, the means by which we are translated?
Henry David Thoreau

If misery loves company, misery has company enough.
Henry David Thoreau

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.
Henry David Thoreau

If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.
Henry David Thoreau

If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.
Henry David Thoreau

If you can speak what you will never hear, if you can write what you will never read, you have done rare things.
Henry David Thoreau

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
Henry David Thoreau

If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see.
Henry David Thoreau

Ignorance and bungling with love are better than wisdom and skill without.
Henry David Thoreau

In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood.
Henry David Thoreau

In my afternoon walk I would fain forget all my morning occupations and my obligations to society.
Henry David Thoreau

In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, they had better aim at something high.
Henry David Thoreau

In the meanest are all the materials of manhood, only they are not rightly disposed.
Henry David Thoreau

In wilderness is the preservation of the world.
Henry David Thoreau

Instead of noblemen, let us have noble villages of men.
Henry David Thoreau

Is the babe young? When I behold it, it seems more venerable than the oldest man.
Henry David Thoreau

It appears to be a law that you cannot have a deep sympathy with both man and nature.
Henry David Thoreau

It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.
Henry David Thoreau

It is an interesting question how far men would retain their relative rank if they were divested of their clothes.
Henry David Thoreau

It is best to avoid the beginnings of evil.
Henry David Thoreau