American - Author | July 12, 1817 - May 6, 1862
We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones. Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man's features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them.
Henry David Thoreau
ManBloodOwnBonesBeginsFlesh
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.
EndAttentionSeriousToysPretty
That man is rich whose pleasures are the cheapest.
ManRichPleasuresWhoseCheapest
The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.
MorningEyesLightDayDarknessSun
A man's interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.
ManWorthMoreSingleDryComplete
What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?
SpaceYouHousePlanetGotUse
I have seen how the foundations of the world are laid, and I have not the least doubt that it will stand a good while.
GoodWorldStandDoubtWillSeen
It is too late to be studying Hebrew; it is more important to understand even the slang of today.
TodayLateImportantUnderstandMore
The language of excitement is at best picturesque merely. You must be calm before you can utter oracles.
BestCalmLanguageYouExcitement
In the meanest are all the materials of manhood, only they are not rightly disposed.
ManhoodOnlyMaterialsMeanest
We are not what we are, nor do we treat or esteem each other for such, but for what we are capable of being.
TreatCapableBeingOtherNorEach
I have found that no exertion of the legs can bring two minds much nearer to one another.
LegsMindsTwoBringFoundMuch
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