Thoreau

I was looking over some of my Henry Thoreau quotes that I have written down over the years of reading his stuff. Not only do I love Thoreau even with his quirky, far out personality, but I am a huge fan of great quotes, and when you put the two together, it is a beautiful thing, so I wanted to share.

• I know where he’s going. He’s going where he’s supposed to go. So he can be where he’s supposed to be, at the time he’s supposed to be there. Why? So he’ll be liked. My God, a whole country of us who only want to be liked. But to be liked, you must never disagree. And if you never disagree, it’s like only breathing in and never breathing out! A man suffocates on courtesy.
• Retirement? What an absurd idea! Why spend the best part of your life earning money so that you can enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it? Why work like a dog so you can pant for a moment or two before you die?
• Maybe to prove less is more. You see, I’m really very wealthy; I just don’t have any money, that’s all.
• 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.