Every man casts a shadow; not his body only, but his imperfectly mingled spirit. This is his grief. Let him turn which way he will, it falls opposite to the sun; short at noon, long at eve. Did you never see it?
While civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them. It has created palaces, but it was not so easy to create noblemen and kings.
As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution.
There are certain pursuits which, if not wholly poetic and true, do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we know. The keeping of bees, for instance.
Our moments of inspiration are not lost though we have no particular poem to show for them; for those experiences have left an indelible impression, and we are ever and anon reminded of them.
The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.
Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it.
He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise.
Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up. Deal with brute nature. Be cold and hungry and weary.
Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail.
A bore is someone who takes away my solitude and doesn’t give me companionship in return.
Man is the artificer of his own happiness.
As to conforming outwardly and living your own life inwardly, I do not think much of that.
I have a room all to myself; it is nature.
Love must be as much a light as it is a flame.
Every path but your own is the path of fate. Keep on your own track, then.
However mean your life is, meet it and live it.
Humility like darkness reveals the heavenly lights.
I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn.
He enjoys true leisure who has time to improve his soul’s estate.