Quotes

Let it not be in any man's power, to say truly of thee, that thou art not truly simple, or sincere and open, or not good.

Be content, then, in everything, with being a philosopher; and if you wish to seem so likewise to anyone, appear so to yourself, and it will suffice you.

The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves.

Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself.

The law of nature is, Do the thing, and you shall have the power: but they who do not the thing have not the power.

The business of her life was to get her daughters married: its solace was visiting and news.

The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature.

It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.

Do not seat your love upon a precipice because it is high.

The formation of the temper is the cool work of reason, when, as life advances, she mixes with happy art, jarring elements.

To do a good day’s work and to do it well, he held to be part of their welfare, as it was the chief part of his own happiness; but he had a strong sense of fellowship with them.

All sorts of pleasant things happened about that time, for the new friendship flourished like grass in spring.

I did nothing but explore with my hands and learn the name of every object that I touched; and the more I handled things and learned their names and uses, the more joyous and confident grew my sense of kinship with the rest of the world.

The moral which I gained from the dialogue was the power of truth over the conscience of even a slaveholder.

We can have in life but one great experience at best, and the secret of life is to reproduce that experience as often as possible.

This also thou shalt find of very good use, upon every such occasion, presently to consider with thyself, what proper virtue nature hath furnished man with, against such a vice, or to encounter with a disposition vicious in this kind.

Do not yearn in desire toward it, but wait till it reaches you.

The work is accomplished, and there is no resting in it (as an achievement).