It was not the hero I admired but the reflection from his epaulet or helmet.
—Thoreau to H.G.O. Blake, 27 February 1853It was ready to echo the growl of a bear, the howl of a wolf, or the scream of a panther; but when you get fairly into the middle of one of these grim forests, you are surprised to find that the larger inhabitants are not at home commonly, but have left only a puny red squirrel to bark at you.
—The Maine WoodsIt was such a light as we could not have imagined a moment before, and the air was also so warm and serene that nothing was wanting to make a paradise of that meadow. When we reflected that this was not a solitary phenomenon, never to happen again, but that it would happen forever and ever an infinite number of evenings, and cheer and reassure the latest child that walked there, it was more glorious still.
—"Walking"It was summer, and now again it is winter. Nature loves this rhyme so well that she never tires of repeating it.
—Journal, 7 December 1856It was unusual for the woods to be so distant from the shore, and there was quite an echo from them, but when I was shouting in order to awake it, the Indian reminded me that I should scare the moose, which he was looking out for, and which we all wanted to see.
—The Maine WoodsIt will have some red stains, commemorating the mornings and evening it has witnessed; some dark and rusty blotches, in memory of the clouds and foggy, mildewy days that have passed over it; and a spacious field of green reflecting the general face of Nature,—green even as the fields; or a yellow ground, which implies a milder flavor,—yellow as the harvest, or russet as the hills.
—"Wild Apples"It would be glorious to see mankind at leisure for once. It is nothing but work, work, work.
—"Life Without Principle"It would be no reproach to a philosopher, that he knew the future better than the past, or even than the present. It is better worth knowing.
—"Thomas Carlyle and His Works"It would be worth the while to tell why a swamp pleases us, what kinds please us, also what weather, etc., etc., analyze our impressions.
—Journal, 31 March 1852It would be worth the while if in each town there were a committee appointed to see that the beauty of the town received no detriment. If we have the largest boulder in the county, then it should not belong to an individual, nor be made into door-steps.
—Journal, 3 January 1861It would give me such joy to know that a friend had come to see me and yet that pleasure I seldom if ever experience.
—Journal, 23 December 1851It would not be hard for some quiet brave man to leap into the saddle to-day and eclipse Napoleon’s career by a grander,—show men at length the meaning of war.
—Journal, 9 April 1841Knowledge can be acquired only by a corresponding experience. How can we know what we are told merely? Each man can interpret another’s experience only by his own.
—A Week on the Concord and Merrimack RiversLadies are in haste to dress as if it were cold or as if it were warm,—though it may not yet be so,—merely to display a new dress.
—Journal, 25 December 1859Language is the most perfect work of art in the world. The chisel of a thousand years retouches it.
—Journal, 27 July 1840Left to herself, nature is always more or less civilized, and delights in a certain refinement; but where the axe has encroached upon the edge of the forest, the dead and unsightly limbs of the pine, which she had concealed with green banks of verdure, are exposed to sight.
—"A Walk to Wachusett"