The frontiers are not east or west, north or south, but wherever a man fronts a fact, though that fact be his neighbor, there is an unsettled wilderness between him and Canada, between him and the setting sun, or, farther still, between him and it.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Frontiers are not geographic but lie wherever we confront new facts, creating unsettled space between us and what we know.
- In plain terms
- New ideas create a frontier of unknown.
- What can you take from it?
- Embrace the uncertainty when confronting new information.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What current ‘frontier’ are you facing?
Another view
Not all unknowns are worth pursuing.
More from Henry David Thoreau
Go where we will on the surface of things, men have been there before us.
Permalink to quote #92 A true account of the actual is the rarest poetry, for common sense always takes a hasty and superficial view.
Permalink to quote #94 Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.
Permalink to quote #91
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