Henry David Thoreau on Easter
1817–1862 United States
← All quotes by Henry David Thoreau
7 quotes
Who could believe in prophecies of Daniel or of Miller that the world would end this summer, while one milkweed with faith matured its seeds?
The Dispersion of Seeds (1993)
As far back as I can remember I have unconsciously referred to the experiences of a previous state of existence.
We are as much as we see. Faith is sight and knowledge. The hands only serve the eyes.
Journals (1838)
There are various, nay, incredible faiths; why should we be alarmed at any of them? What man believes, God believes.
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849)
There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.
Civil Disobedience (1849)
I need only suggest what kind of sermons are still listened to in the most enlightened countries. There are such words as joy and sorrow, but they are only the burden of a psalm, sung with a nasal twang, while we believe in the ordinary and mean.
Books, the oldest and the best, stand naturally and rightfully on the shelves of every cottage. They have no cause of their own to plead, but while they enlighten and sustain the reader his common sense will not refuse them. Their authors are a natural and irresistible aristocracy in every society, and, more than kings or emperors, exert an influence on mankind.