Quote #1

I am a parcel of vain strivings tied By a chance bond together, Dangling this way and that, their links Were made so loose and wide, Methinks, For milder weather.

More from Henry David Thoreau

  1. But now I see I was not plucked for naught, And after in life's vase Of glass set while I might survive, But by a kind hand brought Alive T…
  2. Great God, I ask thee for no meaner pelf Than that I may not disappoint myself, That in my action I may soar as high As I can now discern w…
  3. My books I'd fain cast off, I cannot read, 'Twixt every page my thoughts go stray at large Down in the meadow, where is richer feed, And wi…
  4. Here while I lie beneath this walnut bough, What care I for the Greeks or for Troy town, If juster battles are enacted now Between the ants…
  5. Talk of mysteries! - Think of our life in nature, - daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it, - rocks, trees, wind on our cheek…
  6. The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the law free.
  7. The fate of the country does not depend on how you vote at the polls - the worst man is as strong as the best at that game; it does not dep…
  8. It is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you industrious about?

All Henry David Thoreau quotes