Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it. Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)

Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it. Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man. Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically […]
The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right. Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest. Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
If I were to discover that a certain kind of stone by the pond-shore was affected, say partially disintegrated, buy a particular natural sound, as of a bird or insect, I see that one could not be completely described without describing other. I am that rock by the pond side. Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of a man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavour. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and […]
I have found that no exertion of the legs can bring two minds much nearer to one another. Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
With thinking we may be beside ourselves in a sane sense. By a conscious effort of the mind we can stand aloof from actions and their consequences, and all things, good and bad, go by us like a torrent. Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
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. Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)