Henry David Thoreau, He was an American Philosopher and Essayist. He lived from July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862; he is a leading transcendentalist of his time. He is best known for his essay “Civil Disobedience,” which was published initially as a civil government resistance material.
It states a valid argument to support disobedience to an unjust state. He is also known for his book “Walden,” about the impact of simple living in natural surroundings. His books, essays, journals, articles, and poetry amount to almost more than 20 volumes.
His lasting contributions are his writings on philosophy, natural history, environmental history, and ecology. His literary writings display personal experience, nature, symbolic meanings, pointed rhetoric, and historical lore. He was also deeply interested in historical changes, hostile elements, and natural decay.
His views on civil disobedience later influenced many notable leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
Henry David Thoreau Quotes
Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.- Henry David Thoreau
Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?- Henry David Thoreau
Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.- Henry David Thoreau
The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.- Henry David Thoreau
There are moments when all anxiety and stated toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature.- Henry David Thoreau
You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.- Henry David Thoreau
Nothing goes by luck in composition. It allows of no tricks. The best you can write will be the best you are.- Henry David Thoreau
Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so.- Henry David Thoreau
Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.- Henry David Thoreau
Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.- Henry David Thoreau