Henry David Thoreau

We seem but to linger in manhood to tell the dreams of our childhood, and they vanish out of memory ere we learn the language.

The man who is dissatisfied with himself, what can he do?

Do not despair of life. Think of the fox, prowling in a winter night to satisfy his hunger. His race survives; I do not believe any of them ever committed suicide.

Pursue, keep up with, circle round and round your life, as a dog does his master's chaise.  Do what you love.  Know your own bone, gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him keep step to the music he hears, however measured and far away.

The broadest and most prevalent error requires the most disinterested virtue to sustain it.

Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.

A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind.

If I were confined to a corner of a garret all my days, like a spider, the world would be just as large to me while I had my thoughts about me.

As to conforming outwardly, and living your own life inwardly, I have not a very high opinion of that course.