Inspirational Quotations by Henry David Thoreau

  • I know no more encouraging fact
    than the unquestionable ability of man
    to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.
    From Issue 39
  • This world is but a canvas to our imagination.
    From Issue 61
  • There is no value in life except
    what you choose to place upon it and
    no happiness in any place
    except what you bring to it yourself.
    From Issue 66
  • If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,
    and endeavors to live the life which he had imagined,
    he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
    From Issue 115
  • We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal,
    and then leap in the dark to our success.
    From Issue 120
  • True friendship can afford true knowledge.
    It does not depend on darkness and ignorance.
    From Issue 136
  • Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!
    Live the life you've imagined!
    As you simplify your life, the laws of the Universe will be simpler,
    solitude will not be solitude,
    poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.
    From Issue 143
  • We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake,
    not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.
    From Issue 163
  • There is no rule more invariable than that we
    are paid for our suspicions by finding what we suspect.
    From Issue 192
  • To enhance the quality of the day...
    That is the highest of the arts.
    From Issue 206
  • Live in each season as it passes;
    breath the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit,
    and resign yourself to the influences of each.
    From Issue 238
  • It's not enough to be busy.
    The question is: What are we busy about?
    From Issue 261
  • Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it
    From Issue 262
  • Goodness is the only investment which never fails.
    From Issue 289
  • It is only when we forget all
    our learning that we begin to know.
    From Issue 303
  • The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.
    From Issue 317

A design by Nagesh Belludi • 24-May-2010 • Protected under a Creative Commons License