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Top 500 Henry David Thoreau Quotes (2025 Update)

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “All good things are wild and free.”

1. “All good things are wild and free.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Short Inspirational Quotes, Wise Quotes, Freedom Quotes, Inspiring Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined.”

2. “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Inspirational Quotes, Courage Quotes, Life Quotes, Interesting Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

3. “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Focus Quotes, Attitude Quotes, Life Lessons Quotes, Perspective Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”

4. “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Startup Quotes, Success Quotes, Interesting Quotes, Short Inspiring Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Life isn’t about finding yourself; it’s about creating yourself. So live the life you imagined.”

5. “Life isn’t about finding yourself; it’s about creating yourself. So live the life you imagined.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.”

6. “Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Famous Quotes, Perspective Quotes, Moving On Quotes, Smart Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.”

7. “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Focus Quotes, Business Quotes, Life Philosophy Quotes, Simple Life Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.”

8. “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Integrity Quotes, Life Lessons Quotes, Deep Quotes, Intelligent Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “This world is but a canvas for our imagination.”

9. “This world is but a canvas for our imagination.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Creativity Quotes, Deep Quotes About Life, Imagination Quotes, Inspiring Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

10. “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Deep Quotes About Life, Sad Quotes, Sad Quotes About Life, Meaning of Life Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”

11. “As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Mindset Quotes, Life Philosophy Quotes, Good Morning Inspirational Quotes, Quotes About Thinking

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”

12. “You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Time Quotes, Deep Quotes About Life, Empowering Quotes, Positive Motivational Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

13. “I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Optimistic Quotes, Short Inspirational Quotes, Dreaming Big Quotes, Life Lessons Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one.”

14. “You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Transformation Quotes, Personality Quotes, Character Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “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.”

15. “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

Featured in: Positive Motivational Quotes, Dreaming Big Quotes, Quotes About Dreams, Dream Big Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”

16. “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Deep Quotes About Life, Emotional Quotes, Choices Quotes, Wise Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”

17. “How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Deep Quotes About Life, Experience Quotes, Live Life Quotes, Self-Realization Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.”

18. “What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

19. “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Experience Quotes, Life Lessons Quotes, Mind Quotes, Intelligent Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “We are constantly invited to be who we are.”

20. “We are constantly invited to be who we are.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Self-Realization Quotes, Reflection Quotes, Identity Quotes, Being Yourself Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Goodness is the only investment that never fails.”

21. “Goodness is the only investment that never fails.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Positive Quotes, Integrity Quotes, Morality Quotes, Wise Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “We are born as innocents. We are polluted by advice.”

22. “We are born as innocents. We are polluted by advice.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Think for yourself, or others will think for you without thinking of you.”

23. “Think for yourself, or others will think for you without thinking of you.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Self-Realization Quotes, Quotes About Thinking, Choices Quotes, Intelligent Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.”

24. “A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Learning Quotes, Live Life Quotes, Self-Realization Quotes, Values Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations.”

25. “Not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Self-Realization Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.”

26. “The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.”

27. “An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Short Positive Quotes, Sweet Quotes, Feel Good Quotes, Happy Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest. ”

28. “That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest. ”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Short Quotes, Simple Life Quotes, Simplicity Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”

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

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Be Yourself Quotes, Choices Quotes, Freedom Quotes, Being Yourself Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”

30. “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Meaning Quotes, Self-Realization Quotes, Reflection Quotes, Character Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”

31. “I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Self-Realization Quotes, Reflection Quotes, Individuality Quotes, Lonely Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Enthusiasm is a supernatural serenity.”

32. “Enthusiasm is a supernatural serenity.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, they had better aim at something high.”

33. “In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, they had better aim at something high.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Short Quotes About Life, Intention Quotes, Excellence Quotes, Goal Setting Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?”

34. “It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Short Quotes, Reflection Quotes, Intention Quotes, Intelligent Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “A lake is a landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.”

35. “A lake is a landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Reflection Quotes, Aesthetic Quotes, Appreciation Quotes, Beautiful Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be.”

36. “Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Self-Realization Quotes, Personality Quotes, Reflection Quotes, Self-Belief Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “There is no remedy for love, but to love more.”

37. “There is no remedy for love, but to love more.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Love Quotes, Sweet Quotes, Passion Quotes, Caring Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.”

38. “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Deep Quotes About Life, Sad Quotes, Meaning of Life Quotes, Suffering Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.”

39. “Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Knowledge Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “My greatest skill in life has been to want but little.”

40. “My greatest skill in life has been to want but little.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Contentment Quotes, Simple Life Quotes, Simplicity Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.”

41. “Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Quotes About Dreams, Imagination Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “What's the use of a fine house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?”

42. “What's the use of a fine house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Changing the World Quotes, Nature Quotes, Quotes About the World

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “I make myself rich by making my wants few.”

43. “I make myself rich by making my wants few.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Contentment Quotes, Desire Quotes, Simplicity Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.”

44. “Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Quotes About Writing

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.”

45. “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Simplicity Quotes, Letting Go Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”

46. “The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “The heart is forever inexperienced.”

47. “The heart is forever inexperienced.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Quotes About Feelings, Quotes About Heart

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.”

48. “Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Quotes About Dreams

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Simplify, simplify, simplify.”

49. “Simplify, simplify, simplify.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Simple Life Quotes, Simplicity Quotes

Henry David Thoreau Quote: “Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but hire him who does it for love of it.”

50. “Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but hire him who does it for love of it.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Featured in: Satisfaction Quotes

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