He is a singular character — a young man with…
He is a singular character — a young man with much of wild original nature still remaining in him; and so far as he is sophisticated, it is in a way and method of his own. He is as ugly as sin, long-nosed, queer-mouthed, and with uncouth and rustic, though courteous manners, corresponding very well with such an exterior. But his ugliness is of an honest and agreeable fashion, and becomes him much better than beauty. He was educated, I believe, at Cambridge, and formerly kept school in this town; but for two or three years back, he has repudiated all regular modes of getting a living, and seems inclined to lead a sort of Indian life among civilized men — an Indian life, I mean, as respects the absence of any systematic effort for a livelihood…. Mr. Thoreau is a keen and delicate observer of nature — a genuine observer — which, I suspect, is almost as rare a character as even an original poet; and Nature, in return for his love, seems to adopt him as her especial child, and shows him secrets which few others are allowed to witness.
Other Henry David Thoreau Quotes
- She with one breath attunes the spheres,
And also my poor human heart. - View Quote Details on She with one breath attunes the spheres,
And also my… - Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk. - View Quote Details on Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find…
- No man with a genius for legislation has appeared in America. They are rare in the history of the world. There are orators, politicians, and eloquent men, by the thousand; but the speaker has not yet opened his mouth to speak who is capable of settling the much-vexed questions of the day. - View Quote Details on No man with a genius for legislation has appeared in…
- Truth, Goodness, Beauty — those celestial thrins,
Continually are born; e’en now the Universe,
With thousand throats, and eke with greener smiles,
Its joy confesses at their recent birth. - View Quote Details on Truth, Goodness, Beauty — those celestial thrins,
Continually are born; e’en… - I am as desirous of being a good neighbor as I am of being a bad subject. - View Quote Details on I am as desirous of being a good neighbor as…
- Far from New England’s blustering shore,
New England’s worm her hulk shall bore,
And sink her in the Indian seas,
Twine, wine, and hides, and China teas. - View Quote Details on Far from New England’s blustering shore,
New England’s worm her hulk… - Politics is, as it were, the gizzard of society, full of grit and gravel, and the two political parties are its two opposite halves, — sometimes split into quarters, it may be, which grind on each other. Not only individuals, but States, have thus a confirmed dyspepsia, which expresses itself, you can imagine by what sort of eloquence. Thus our life is not altogether a forgetting, but also, alas! to a great extent, a remembering of that which we should never have been conscious of, certainly not in our waking hours. Why should we not meet, not always as dyspeptics, to tell our bad dreams, but sometimes as eupeptics, to congratulate each other on the ever glorious morning? I do not make an exorbitant demand, surely. - View Quote Details on Politics is, as it were, the gizzard of society, full…
- You can hardly convince a man of an error in a lifetime, but must content yourself with the reflection that the progress of science is slow. If he is not convinced, his grandchildren may be. - View Quote Details on You can hardly convince a man of an error in…
- If you are describing any occurrence… make two or more distinct reports at different times… We discriminate at first only a few features, and we need to reconsider our experience from many points of view and in various moods in order to perceive the whole. - View Quote Details on If you are describing any occurrence… make two or more…
- There are other letters for the child to learn than those which Cadmus invented. - View Quote Details on There are other letters for the child to learn than…
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