Henry David Thoreau quotes

Quotes by Henry David Thoreau

1. Life

   “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, Walden (1854)

   Meaning: Thoreau left busy town life to live simply in nature. He wanted to focus on what really matters, so that at the end of his life he would not feel he had wasted it.

   deliberately

   – on purpose, after careful thought

   front

   – an old use meaning to face or deal with directly

   essential

   – most basic and important

2. Change & growth

   “Things do not change; we change.”

   – Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)

   Meaning: The world may stay the same, but the way we see it changes as we grow. Often the real change is inside us.

3. Travel

   “Not till we are lost, in other words, not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves.”

   – Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)

   Meaning: Only when we leave behind familiar places and routines do we start to understand who we are.