The Writings of Henry David Thoreau, Volume 10Houghton, Mifflin, 1893 |
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Page 35
... heaven as some fair sunlit tree against the western horizon , and by sunrise is planted on some eastern hill to glisten in the first rays of the dawn . The brave man braves nothing , nor knows he of his brav- ery . . . . He does not ...
... heaven as some fair sunlit tree against the western horizon , and by sunrise is planted on some eastern hill to glisten in the first rays of the dawn . The brave man braves nothing , nor knows he of his brav- ery . . . . He does not ...
Page 40
... heavens , the other sweeps the earth . One says he will reform himself , and then nature and circumstances will be right . Let us not obstruct ourselves , for that is the greatest friction . It is of little im- portance though a cloud ...
... heavens , the other sweeps the earth . One says he will reform himself , and then nature and circumstances will be right . Let us not obstruct ourselves , for that is the greatest friction . It is of little im- portance though a cloud ...
Page 64
... Heaven , of a perfect natural as of a perfect spiritual world . We see how past ages have loitered and erred . " Is perhaps our generation free from irrationality and error ? Have we perhaps reached now the summit of human wisdom , and ...
... Heaven , of a perfect natural as of a perfect spiritual world . We see how past ages have loitered and erred . " Is perhaps our generation free from irrationality and error ? Have we perhaps reached now the summit of human wisdom , and ...
Page 65
... heaven's roof . After all , the theories and speculations of men concern us more than their puny accomplishment . It is with a certain coldness and languor that we loiter about the actual and so - called practical . How little do the ...
... heaven's roof . After all , the theories and speculations of men concern us more than their puny accomplishment . It is with a certain coldness and languor that we loiter about the actual and so - called practical . How little do the ...
Page 66
... heaven , and stops short with singular abrupt- ness when we think it is drawing near to the precincts of the Christian's , and we trust we have not made here a distinction without a dif- ference . Undoubtedly if we were to reform this ...
... heaven , and stops short with singular abrupt- ness when we think it is drawing near to the precincts of the Christian's , and we trust we have not made here a distinction without a dif- ference . Undoubtedly if we were to reform this ...
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Common terms and phrases
AMPHIARAUS behold better birds brave called Carlyle Church commonly Concord death divine earnest earth England English expediency eyes fate Father fear feet fire foes force friends Fugitive Slave Fugitive Slave Law genius gods Goethe hands hear heard heaven Heph Herald of Freedom hero horse human humor Inachus John Brown justice kind Kronos labor land least light live look man's marriage Massachusetts ment merely MERRIMACK RIVERS mind mortals nature neighbors NEMEA never North Elba once ORCHOMENOS Peleus perchance philosophy Pindar Plutarch poet poetry prison Prometheus PYTHIA reform respect rule sense Sharps rifles slavery speak speech spirit stand stone sufferings sure sweet Tartarus tell thee things Thomas Carlyle Thoreau thou thought tion true truth virtue vote walk whole wind wise wish words writing Zeus
Popular passages
Page 250 - They tame but one another still: Early or late They stoop to fate, And must give up their murmuring breath, When they, pale captives, creep to death. The garlands wither on your brow, Then boast no more your mighty deeds; Upon Death's purple altar now See, where the victor-victim bleeds: Your heads must come To the cold tomb; Only the actions of the just Smell sweet, and blossom in their dust.
Page 135 - Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, As his corse to the rampart we hurried ; Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot O'er the grave where our hero we buried. We buried him darkly at dead of night, The sods with our bayonets turning ; By the struggling moonbeam's misty light And the lantern dimly burning. No useless coffin enclosed his breast...
Page 131 - I heartily accept the motto, — "That government is best which governs least;" and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe, — "That government is best which governs not at all;" and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.
Page 131 - ... standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for, in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure.
Page 134 - It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.
Page 149 - Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison. The proper place to-day, the only place which Massachusetts has provided for her freer and less...
Page vii - DAUGHTERS of Time, the hypocritic Days, Muffled and dumb like barefoot dervishes, And marching single in an endless file, Bring diadems and fagots in their hands. To each they offer gifts after his will, Bread, kingdoms, stars, and sky that holds them all.
Page 150 - ... If you really wish to do anything, resign your office." When the subject has refused allegiance, and the officer has resigned his office, then the revolution is accomplished. But even suppose blood should flow. Is there not a sort of blood shed when the conscience is wounded? Through this wound a man's , real manhood and immortality flow out, and he bleeds to an everlasting death. I see this blood flowing now.
Page 145 - If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth, — certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank...
Page 4 - He was a protestant d. outrance, and few lives contain so many renunciations. |He was bred to no profession ; he never married ; he lived alone ; he never went to church ; he never voted ; he refused to pay a tax to the State ; he ate no flesh, he drank no wine, he never knew the use of tobacco ; and, though a naturalist, he used neither trap nor gun.