How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book.

More about this quote

About Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience" (originally published as "Resistance to Civil Government"), an...

More quotations from Henry David Thoreau

It is as hard to see one's self as to look backwards without turning around.

—Henry David Thoreau

More about this quote

Permalink for this quote

Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.

—Henry David Thoreau

More about this quote

Permalink for this quote

What is called genius is the abundance of life and health.

—Henry David Thoreau

More about this quote

Permalink for this quote

A man's ignorance sometimes is not only useful, but beautiful — while his knowledge, so called, is oftentimes worse than useless, besides being ugly. Which is the best man to deal with — he who knows nothing about a subject, and, what is extremely rare, knows that he knows nothing, or he who really knows something about it, but thinks that he knows all?