NationStates Jolt Archive

Here are a few just to get you started:

"A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." --Oscar Wilde

"The notion that the church, the press, and the universities should serve the state is essentially a Communist notion. In a free society these institutions must be wholly free -- which is to say that their function is to serve as checks upon the state." -- Alan Barth

"But to manipulate men, to propel them toward goals which you -- the social reformers -- see, but they may not, is to deny their human essence, to treat them as objects without wills of their own, and therefore to degrade them." --Isaiah Berlin

"It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen." --Herodotus

"More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones." --Mother Teresa

It takes a big man to cry, but an even bigger man to laugh at that man

Can't remember who said it...

I think you should examine how Berlin's quote reflects on the Iraqi War and democracy spreading which you hold so dear.

"When the government fears the people you have liberty. When the people fear the government you have tyranny." -Thomas Jefferson

"It is one of the great ironies of my life that I couldn't be still until I could no longer keep still." - Anon.

Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause.
Voltaire

Action and faith enslave thought, both of them in order to not be troubled or inconvenienced by reflection, criticism, and doubt.
Henri Frederic Amiel

A subject for a great poet would be God's boredom after the seventh day of creation.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they regard such departure as a criticism of themselves.
Bertrand Russell

"The number, the industry, and the morality of the Priesthood, & the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total seperation of the Church from the State."
-- James Madison

Many Churchil comments as well as Twain......

Look at the quote in my sig. It's probably the truest thing I've ever heard.

Incidentally, while your looking try and click the link. Turn up the speakers first though. :)

"A man with a clear consience probably has a poor memory."-Lawrence J. Peter

"Always remember that you are absolutely unique, just like everybody else."- Margaret Mead

"It's not money that brings happiness; it's lots of money."-Russian Proverb

"Hurrah boys, we've got them! We'll finish them up and then go home to our station."-General George Custer's last words

"I have no experience, but I guess they're no different than dogs and horses."-Bo Derek, on children.

"My mother never realised the irony in calling me a son of a bitch."-anonymous

I think you should examine how Berlin's quote reflects on the Iraqi War and democracy spreading which you hold so dear.

Seems to me that what Berlin is doing here is just restating Kant's maxim that we should treat all people as ends, not means.

But to manipulate men, to propel them toward goals which you -- the social reformers -- see, but they may not, is to deny their human essence, to treat them as objects without wills of their own, and therefore to degrade them." --Isaiah Berlin

I can see your point well, and that probably was the original purpose of the quote...

But the US has entered into the social reformers role in Iraq, we are manipulating them in order to force a world wide democracy, and therefore treating them as objects not as people.

But this is for another thread, lets not ruin this one with Iraqi talk, I should never had made my original post, my apologies Eutrusca

"I can lick you faster than hell can singe a feather" John A. Mcdonald, Canadian father of confederation, as he leaped at Sir Brown, leader of the oppision party of the Colony of Canada, at the Charlottetown convention.

"bite me doguh boy"
-The Drew Carrey (sp?) Show

"I know half of you half as well as I would like, and like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." Bilbo Baggins in the book The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

"With great power comes great responsibility." Peter Parker's uncle in the movie "Spider Man" (Are movies in quotes?)

"I can't make decisions! I'm a president!" The president of planet Spaceball in the movie "Spaceballs", directed by Mel Brooks

"Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others." That was Churchill, right?

But to manipulate men, to propel them toward goals which you -- the social reformers -- see, but they may not, is to deny their human essence, to treat them as objects without wills of their own, and therefore to degrade them." --Isaiah Berlin

I can see your point well, and that probably was the original purpose of the quote...

But the US has entered into the social reformers role in Iraq, we are manipulating them in order to force a world wide democracy, and therefore treating them as objects not as people.

But this is for another thread, lets not ruin this one with Iraqi talk, I should never had made my original post, my apologies Eutrusca

None are necessary. :)

That Spiderman quote sucks.

That Spiderman quote sucks.

ROFLMAO!!! :D

"One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is statistics." Albert Einstein

"We found no evidence of WMD's in Iraq." DICK Chimney

"time for you to go home little anal dwelling butt monkey"
-bruce almighty.

"One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is statistics." Albert Einstein

In exactly which parallel universe are you located? It appears to be one where Joe Stalin won the Nobel prize for physics and Albert Einstein became the leader of the USSR.

"That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons
who failed at ditching and shoemaking and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poorhouse." - Mark Twain

New at this....

ROFLMAO??

"The best lack all convictions, while the worst are full of passionate intensity"
-W. B. Yeats

New at this....

ROFLMAO??

Rolling On the Floor Laughing My Ass Off! :D

We all participate in weaving the social fabric; we should therefore all
participate in patching the fabric when it develops holes. - Anne C. Weisberg

"The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane." - Mark Twain

In exactly which parallel universe are you located? It appears to be one where Joe Stalin won the Nobel prize for physics and Albert Einstein became the leader of the USSR.

lol did i write albert einstein??? lol sry i mix it up with another of his quotes i was thinking of..."I dont know what weapons WW3 will be fought with, but i know that WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones" lol sry for the mix up. :rolleyes:

lol did i write albert einstein??? lol sry i mix it up with another of his quotes i was thinking of..."I dont know what weapons WW3 will be fought with, but i know that WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones" lol sry for the mix up. :rolleyes:

I like the true Einstein quote more than the original one, should have gone with it.

The Anglo-Saxon conscience doesn't keep you from doing what you shouldn't; it just keeps you from enjoying it. - Salvador de Madariaga

:D

I like the true Einstein quote more than the original one, should have gone with it.

yes its very nice, but the first one shows up more in every day life, especially in the news.

"Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other 'sins' are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is not a sin - just stupid.)" - Robert A. Heinlein

That Spiderman quote sucks.
How? It's simple and true. If you have the power (skills and knowledge are power, as well), you have a duty to use it to help your race.

"Only a fallen soldier has seen the end of war" sry i don´t know who said this

"If you don't want to be caught doing something stupid, then don't do something stupid."

Can't remember who said it

"If you don't want to be caught doing something stupid, then don't do something stupid."

Can't remember who said it

I think it should be reworded to read: "If you don't want to eventually do something stupid, then you shouldn't do anything."

I do not know what weapons world war three will be fought with , but ww4 will be fought with sticks and stones- Einstein

The joy seeing Yuri Gagarin flying in space is only superseded by the joy of a good penalty save - Yashin

"It is not having entered the dark house, but having left it that matters."
Teddy Roosevelt, quoted in "The Alienist" 1890 psychological thriller.

"My religion will die. That is as it should be." Gotama Buddha

"Instant karma's gonna get you" John Lennon

"Many that die deserve life. Can you give that to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice. Even the wise cannot see all ends." Gandalf

"I, in the sour black tomb, trodden to absolute death
I put out my hand in the night, one night, and my hand
touched that which was verily not me,
verily it was not me.
Where I had been was a sudden blaze,
a sudden flaring blaze !
So I put out my hand out further, a little further
and I felt that which was not I,
it verily was not I,
it was the unknown."- D.H. Lawrence

"In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter—bitter," he answered;
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart." - Stephen Crane

This one i like "Its no wrong to cheat, its wrong to cheat AND get caught"

A fool and his money are easily elected.

"Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it." - George Bernard Shaw

I do not know what weapons world war three will be fought with , but ww4 will be fought with sticks and stones- Einstein

mentioned already, but one more who liked it :)

hasta la victoria siempre

mentioned already, but one more who liked it :)

i didn't see it before but oh well , and i saw it on Operation Flashpoint

i didn't see it before but oh well , and i saw it on Operation Flashpoint

lol me 2 :) nice game!!

How? It's simple and true. If you have the power (skills and knowledge are power, as well), you have a duty to use it to help your race.

It sucks because it is simple, it requires no thinking whatsoever. Someone hears it and thinks "You know what, I really agree with that", but they gain absolutely no insight from it.

How bout this:
You see what power is - holding someone else's fear in your hand and showing it to them!
Amy Tan

"History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again." - Maya Angelou

"My karma just ran over your dogma."

"He's not a complete idiot, some parts are missing."

Don't know who said either of those, but they're a hella lotta laughs! :D

I love this guy. I don't think he ever said an untrue word:

Thoreau Quotes
from the random Thoreau quote generator at
http://www.psymon.com/walden/


Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!(my favorite, except I read it "Simplify! Simplify!")

from the chapter "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" in Walden

contributed by Ron Koster



As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Kirk McElhearn



If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Matt Ames


I had three pieces of limestone on my desk,
but I was terrified to find that they required to be dusted daily,
when the furniture of my mind was all undusted still,
and threw them out the window in disgust.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Ken Winchenbach Walden



To be awake is to be alive.
from the chapter "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" in Walden

contributed by Ann Woodlief



Soon the ice will melt, and the blackbirds sing
along the river which he frequented, as pleasantly as ever.
The same everlasting serenity will appear in this face of God,
and we will not be sorrowful, if he is not.
from a letter to Lucy Brown dated March 2, 1842,
following the death of Thoreau's brother

contributed by Sue Petrovski



My Aunt Maria asked me to read the life of Dr. Chalmers,
which, however, I did not promise to do.
Yesterday, Sunday, she was heard through the partition
shouting to my Aunt Jane, who is deaf, "Think of it!
He stood half an hour today to hear the frogs croak,
and he wouldn't read the life of Chalmers."
from the Journal (March 28, 1853)

contributed by Gary Robertson



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.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Austin Meredith



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.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Austin Meredith



Some circumstantial evidence is very strong,
as when you find a trout in the milk.
from the Journal (c. November 11-14, 1850)

contributed by Bob Lucas



The frontiers are not east or west, north or south,
but wherever a man "fronts" a fact.
from the chapter "Thursday"
in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

contributed by Gary Robertson



Live free, child of the mist,
-- and with respect to knowledge we are all
children of the mist.
From the essay Walking

contributed by Gary Robertson



In any weather, at any hour of the day or night,
I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too;
to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future,
which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line.
from the chapter "Economy"
in Walden

contributed by Ron Koster



As surely as the sunset in my latest November
shall translate me to the ethereal world,
and remind me of the ruddy morning of youth;
as surely as the last strain of music which falls on my decaying ear
shall make age to be forgotten,
or, in short, the manifold influences of nature
survive during the term of our natural life,
so surely my Friend shall forever be my Friend,
and reflect a ray of God to me,
and time shall foster and adorn and consecrate our Friendship,
no less than the ruins of temples.
from the chapter "Wednesday"
in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

contributed by Ron Koster



I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself,
than be crowded on a velvet cushion.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Josh Randall



The fact which the politician faces is merely that
there is less honor among thieves than was supposed,
and not the fact that they are thieves.
from Slavery in Massachusetts

contributed by Richard Lenat



Let us first be as simple and well as Nature ourselves,
dispel the clouds which hang over our brows,
and take up a little life into our pores.

contributed by John Dempsey



I have a great deal of company in my house;
especially in the morning, when nobody calls.
from the chapter "Solitude" in Walden

contributed by Christopher Ryan Murphy



In the streets and in society I am almost invariably
cheap and dissipated, my life is unspeakably mean.
No amount of gold or respectability would in the least
redeem it,-- dining with the Governor or a member of Congress!!
But alone in the distant woods or fields,
in unpretending sprout-lands or pastures tracked by rabbits,
even in a bleak and, to most, cheerless day, like this,
when a villager would be thinking of his inn,
I come to myself, I once more feel myself grandly related,
and that cold and solitude are friends of mine.
I suppose that this value, in my case, is equivalent
to what others get by churchgoing and prayer.
I come home to my solitary woodland walk as the homesick go home.
I thus dispose of the superfluous and see things as they are,
grand and beautiful. I have told many that I walk every day
about half the daylight, but I think they do not believe it.
I wish to get the Concord, the Massachusetts, the America,
out of my head and be sane a part of every day.
from the Journal (January 7, 1857)

contributed by Sonya Welter



A man is rich in proportion tothe number of things
which he can afford to let alone.
from the chapter "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" in Walden

contributed by Tony Carleo


I have heard of a dog that barked at every stranger
who approached his master's premises with clothes on,
but was easily quieted by a naked thief.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Nathan Wagner



However mean your life is, meet it and live it;
do not shun it and call it hard names.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Sydney Rosen



An efficient and valuable man does what he can,
whether the community pay him for it or not.
The inefficient offer their inefficiency to the highest bidder,
and are forever expecting to be put in office.
from Life without Principle

contributed by Mark Heiden



The sea-shore is a sort of neutral ground,
a most advantageous point from which to contemplate this world.
It is even a trivial place. The waves forever rolling to the land
are too far-travelled and untamable to be familiar.
Creeping along the endless beach amid the sun-squall and the foam,
it occurs to us that we, too, are the product of sea-slime.
from the chapter "The Sea And The Desert" in Cape Cod

contributed by Robert Vasselli



To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts,
nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live
according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence,
magnanimity, and trust.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Richard Dean Banton



The physiologist says it [ripening of fruit] is "due to an increased absorption of oxygen."
That is the scientific account of the matter, -- only a reassertion of the fact.
But I am more interested in the rosy cheek than I am to know
what particular diet the maiden fed on.
from Chapter 1 of Autumnal Tints

contributed by Bill Hanna



I too had woven a kind of basket of a delicate texture,
but I had not made it worth anyone's while to buy them.
Yet not the less, in my case, did I think it worth my while to weave them,
and instead of studying how to make it worth men's while to buy my baskets,
I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of selling them.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Alfred La Pointe



Perfect sincerity and transparency make a great part of beauty,
as in dewdrops, lakes, and diamonds.
from the Journal (June 20, 1840)

contributed by Patricia Anne Kuniega



Hope and the future for me are not in lawns and cultivated fields,
not in towns and cities, but in the impervious and quaking swamps.
From the essay Walking

contributed by Randy Porter



The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad,
and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior.
What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Richard Lenat



A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.
It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures
the depth of his own nature.
from the chapter "The Ponds" in Walden

contributed by Eric Brown



In the days before his death,
his Aunt Louisa asked him if he had made his peace with God.
His answer was "I did not know we had ever quarrelled, Aunt."
from the Harding and Richardson biographies

contributed by Paul Edward Draper



We linger in manhood to tell the dreams of our childhood,
and they are half forgotten ere we have learned the language.
from the chapter "Friday"
in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

contributed by Kenneth Bass




Say what you have to say, not what you ought.
Any truth is better than make-believe.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Christopher David Greiner



It is a rare qualification to be able to state a fact simply and adequately.
To digest some experience cleanly.
To say yes and no with authority--To make a square edge.
To conceive & suffer the truth to pass through us living & and intact....
Say it and have done with it. Express it without expressing ourself.
See not with the eye of science -- which is barren --
nor of youthful poetry which is impotent.
from the Journal (November 1, 1851)

contributed by Wallace Kaufman



As in old times they who dwelt on the heath
remote from towns were backward to adopt the doctrines
which prevailed there, and were therefore called heathen
in a bad sense, so we dwellers in the huckleberry pastures,
which are our heath lands, are slow to adopt the notions
of large towns and cities and may perchance be
nicknamed huckleberry people.
from the Journal (December 30, 1860)

contributed by Gary Robertson



Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you,
opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by John Butkis




I should not talk so much about myself
if there were anybody else whom I knew as well.
Unfortunately, I am confined to this theme by the narrowness
of my experience.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Ron Faraday

You know the trouble with the French, they don't even have a word for entrepreneur.

I love this guy. I don't think he ever said an untrue word:

As well you might! Lovely. Just lovely! :)

You would not ask, why the rose, which grows from the concrete, had damaged pedals.
On the contrary, we would all celebrate its tenacity,
We would all love its will to reach the sun.
Well, we are the roses,
This is the concrete
And these are my damaged pedals.
Don’t ask me why.
Thank God
And ask me how.



Tupac Shakur
:fluffle:

"Treat the other man's faith gently; it is all he has to believe with. His mind was created for his own thoughts, not yours or mine." - Askitiki

I love this guy. I don't think he ever said an untrue word:

Thoreau Quotes
from the random Thoreau quote generator at
http://www.psymon.com/walden/


Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!(my favorite, except I read it "Simplify! Simplify!")

from the chapter "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" in Walden

contributed by Ron Koster



As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Kirk McElhearn



If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Matt Ames


I had three pieces of limestone on my desk,
but I was terrified to find that they required to be dusted daily,
when the furniture of my mind was all undusted still,
and threw them out the window in disgust.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Ken Winchenbach Walden



To be awake is to be alive.
from the chapter "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" in Walden

contributed by Ann Woodlief



Soon the ice will melt, and the blackbirds sing
along the river which he frequented, as pleasantly as ever.
The same everlasting serenity will appear in this face of God,
and we will not be sorrowful, if he is not.
from a letter to Lucy Brown dated March 2, 1842,
following the death of Thoreau's brother

contributed by Sue Petrovski



My Aunt Maria asked me to read the life of Dr. Chalmers,
which, however, I did not promise to do.
Yesterday, Sunday, she was heard through the partition
shouting to my Aunt Jane, who is deaf, "Think of it!
He stood half an hour today to hear the frogs croak,
and he wouldn't read the life of Chalmers."
from the Journal (March 28, 1853)

contributed by Gary Robertson



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.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Austin Meredith



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.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Austin Meredith



Some circumstantial evidence is very strong,
as when you find a trout in the milk.
from the Journal (c. November 11-14, 1850)

contributed by Bob Lucas



The frontiers are not east or west, north or south,
but wherever a man "fronts" a fact.
from the chapter "Thursday"
in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

contributed by Gary Robertson



Live free, child of the mist,
-- and with respect to knowledge we are all
children of the mist.
From the essay Walking

contributed by Gary Robertson



In any weather, at any hour of the day or night,
I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too;
to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future,
which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line.
from the chapter "Economy"
in Walden

contributed by Ron Koster



As surely as the sunset in my latest November
shall translate me to the ethereal world,
and remind me of the ruddy morning of youth;
as surely as the last strain of music which falls on my decaying ear
shall make age to be forgotten,
or, in short, the manifold influences of nature
survive during the term of our natural life,
so surely my Friend shall forever be my Friend,
and reflect a ray of God to me,
and time shall foster and adorn and consecrate our Friendship,
no less than the ruins of temples.
from the chapter "Wednesday"
in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

contributed by Ron Koster



I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself,
than be crowded on a velvet cushion.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Josh Randall



The fact which the politician faces is merely that
there is less honor among thieves than was supposed,
and not the fact that they are thieves.
from Slavery in Massachusetts

contributed by Richard Lenat



Let us first be as simple and well as Nature ourselves,
dispel the clouds which hang over our brows,
and take up a little life into our pores.

contributed by John Dempsey



I have a great deal of company in my house;
especially in the morning, when nobody calls.
from the chapter "Solitude" in Walden

contributed by Christopher Ryan Murphy



In the streets and in society I am almost invariably
cheap and dissipated, my life is unspeakably mean.
No amount of gold or respectability would in the least
redeem it,-- dining with the Governor or a member of Congress!!
But alone in the distant woods or fields,
in unpretending sprout-lands or pastures tracked by rabbits,
even in a bleak and, to most, cheerless day, like this,
when a villager would be thinking of his inn,
I come to myself, I once more feel myself grandly related,
and that cold and solitude are friends of mine.
I suppose that this value, in my case, is equivalent
to what others get by churchgoing and prayer.
I come home to my solitary woodland walk as the homesick go home.
I thus dispose of the superfluous and see things as they are,
grand and beautiful. I have told many that I walk every day
about half the daylight, but I think they do not believe it.
I wish to get the Concord, the Massachusetts, the America,
out of my head and be sane a part of every day.
from the Journal (January 7, 1857)

contributed by Sonya Welter



A man is rich in proportion tothe number of things
which he can afford to let alone.
from the chapter "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" in Walden

contributed by Tony Carleo


I have heard of a dog that barked at every stranger
who approached his master's premises with clothes on,
but was easily quieted by a naked thief.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Nathan Wagner



However mean your life is, meet it and live it;
do not shun it and call it hard names.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Sydney Rosen



An efficient and valuable man does what he can,
whether the community pay him for it or not.
The inefficient offer their inefficiency to the highest bidder,
and are forever expecting to be put in office.
from Life without Principle

contributed by Mark Heiden



The sea-shore is a sort of neutral ground,
a most advantageous point from which to contemplate this world.
It is even a trivial place. The waves forever rolling to the land
are too far-travelled and untamable to be familiar.
Creeping along the endless beach amid the sun-squall and the foam,
it occurs to us that we, too, are the product of sea-slime.
from the chapter "The Sea And The Desert" in Cape Cod

contributed by Robert Vasselli



To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts,
nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live
according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence,
magnanimity, and trust.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Richard Dean Banton



The physiologist says it [ripening of fruit] is "due to an increased absorption of oxygen."
That is the scientific account of the matter, -- only a reassertion of the fact.
But I am more interested in the rosy cheek than I am to know
what particular diet the maiden fed on.
from Chapter 1 of Autumnal Tints

contributed by Bill Hanna



I too had woven a kind of basket of a delicate texture,
but I had not made it worth anyone's while to buy them.
Yet not the less, in my case, did I think it worth my while to weave them,
and instead of studying how to make it worth men's while to buy my baskets,
I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of selling them.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Alfred La Pointe



Perfect sincerity and transparency make a great part of beauty,
as in dewdrops, lakes, and diamonds.
from the Journal (June 20, 1840)

contributed by Patricia Anne Kuniega



Hope and the future for me are not in lawns and cultivated fields,
not in towns and cities, but in the impervious and quaking swamps.
From the essay Walking

contributed by Randy Porter



The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad,
and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior.
What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Richard Lenat



A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.
It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures
the depth of his own nature.
from the chapter "The Ponds" in Walden

contributed by Eric Brown



In the days before his death,
his Aunt Louisa asked him if he had made his peace with God.
His answer was "I did not know we had ever quarrelled, Aunt."
from the Harding and Richardson biographies

contributed by Paul Edward Draper



We linger in manhood to tell the dreams of our childhood,
and they are half forgotten ere we have learned the language.
from the chapter "Friday"
in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

contributed by Kenneth Bass




Say what you have to say, not what you ought.
Any truth is better than make-believe.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Christopher David Greiner



It is a rare qualification to be able to state a fact simply and adequately.
To digest some experience cleanly.
To say yes and no with authority--To make a square edge.
To conceive & suffer the truth to pass through us living & and intact....
Say it and have done with it. Express it without expressing ourself.
See not with the eye of science -- which is barren --
nor of youthful poetry which is impotent.
from the Journal (November 1, 1851)

contributed by Wallace Kaufman



As in old times they who dwelt on the heath
remote from towns were backward to adopt the doctrines
which prevailed there, and were therefore called heathen
in a bad sense, so we dwellers in the huckleberry pastures,
which are our heath lands, are slow to adopt the notions
of large towns and cities and may perchance be
nicknamed huckleberry people.
from the Journal (December 30, 1860)

contributed by Gary Robertson



Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you,
opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by John Butkis




I should not talk so much about myself
if there were anybody else whom I knew as well.
Unfortunately, I am confined to this theme by the narrowness
of my experience.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Ron Faraday

you did your homework

Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command.

Alan Watts

Compassion is the basis of all morality.

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860)

my personal fav "those who do not learn history, tend to repeat it"

"All you see in your world is the outcome of your idea about it." - Neald Donald Walsh

I love this guy. I don't think he ever said an untrue word:

Thoreau Quotes
from the random Thoreau quote generator at
http://www.psymon.com/walden/


Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!(my favorite, except I read it "Simplify! Simplify!")

from the chapter "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" in Walden

contributed by Ron Koster



As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Kirk McElhearn



If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Matt Ames


I had three pieces of limestone on my desk,
but I was terrified to find that they required to be dusted daily,
when the furniture of my mind was all undusted still,
and threw them out the window in disgust.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Ken Winchenbach Walden



To be awake is to be alive.
from the chapter "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" in Walden

contributed by Ann Woodlief



Soon the ice will melt, and the blackbirds sing
along the river which he frequented, as pleasantly as ever.
The same everlasting serenity will appear in this face of God,
and we will not be sorrowful, if he is not.
from a letter to Lucy Brown dated March 2, 1842,
following the death of Thoreau's brother

contributed by Sue Petrovski



My Aunt Maria asked me to read the life of Dr. Chalmers,
which, however, I did not promise to do.
Yesterday, Sunday, she was heard through the partition
shouting to my Aunt Jane, who is deaf, "Think of it!
He stood half an hour today to hear the frogs croak,
and he wouldn't read the life of Chalmers."
from the Journal (March 28, 1853)

contributed by Gary Robertson



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.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Austin Meredith



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.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Austin Meredith



Some circumstantial evidence is very strong,
as when you find a trout in the milk.
from the Journal (c. November 11-14, 1850)

contributed by Bob Lucas



The frontiers are not east or west, north or south,
but wherever a man "fronts" a fact.
from the chapter "Thursday"
in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

contributed by Gary Robertson



Live free, child of the mist,
-- and with respect to knowledge we are all
children of the mist.
From the essay Walking

contributed by Gary Robertson



In any weather, at any hour of the day or night,
I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too;
to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future,
which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line.
from the chapter "Economy"
in Walden

contributed by Ron Koster



As surely as the sunset in my latest November
shall translate me to the ethereal world,
and remind me of the ruddy morning of youth;
as surely as the last strain of music which falls on my decaying ear
shall make age to be forgotten,
or, in short, the manifold influences of nature
survive during the term of our natural life,
so surely my Friend shall forever be my Friend,
and reflect a ray of God to me,
and time shall foster and adorn and consecrate our Friendship,
no less than the ruins of temples.
from the chapter "Wednesday"
in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

contributed by Ron Koster



I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself,
than be crowded on a velvet cushion.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Josh Randall



The fact which the politician faces is merely that
there is less honor among thieves than was supposed,
and not the fact that they are thieves.
from Slavery in Massachusetts

contributed by Richard Lenat



Let us first be as simple and well as Nature ourselves,
dispel the clouds which hang over our brows,
and take up a little life into our pores.

contributed by John Dempsey



I have a great deal of company in my house;
especially in the morning, when nobody calls.
from the chapter "Solitude" in Walden

contributed by Christopher Ryan Murphy



In the streets and in society I am almost invariably
cheap and dissipated, my life is unspeakably mean.
No amount of gold or respectability would in the least
redeem it,-- dining with the Governor or a member of Congress!!
But alone in the distant woods or fields,
in unpretending sprout-lands or pastures tracked by rabbits,
even in a bleak and, to most, cheerless day, like this,
when a villager would be thinking of his inn,
I come to myself, I once more feel myself grandly related,
and that cold and solitude are friends of mine.
I suppose that this value, in my case, is equivalent
to what others get by churchgoing and prayer.
I come home to my solitary woodland walk as the homesick go home.
I thus dispose of the superfluous and see things as they are,
grand and beautiful. I have told many that I walk every day
about half the daylight, but I think they do not believe it.
I wish to get the Concord, the Massachusetts, the America,
out of my head and be sane a part of every day.
from the Journal (January 7, 1857)

contributed by Sonya Welter



A man is rich in proportion tothe number of things
which he can afford to let alone.
from the chapter "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" in Walden

contributed by Tony Carleo


I have heard of a dog that barked at every stranger
who approached his master's premises with clothes on,
but was easily quieted by a naked thief.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Nathan Wagner



However mean your life is, meet it and live it;
do not shun it and call it hard names.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Sydney Rosen



An efficient and valuable man does what he can,
whether the community pay him for it or not.
The inefficient offer their inefficiency to the highest bidder,
and are forever expecting to be put in office.
from Life without Principle

contributed by Mark Heiden



The sea-shore is a sort of neutral ground,
a most advantageous point from which to contemplate this world.
It is even a trivial place. The waves forever rolling to the land
are too far-travelled and untamable to be familiar.
Creeping along the endless beach amid the sun-squall and the foam,
it occurs to us that we, too, are the product of sea-slime.
from the chapter "The Sea And The Desert" in Cape Cod

contributed by Robert Vasselli



To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts,
nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live
according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence,
magnanimity, and trust.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Richard Dean Banton



The physiologist says it [ripening of fruit] is "due to an increased absorption of oxygen."
That is the scientific account of the matter, -- only a reassertion of the fact.
But I am more interested in the rosy cheek than I am to know
what particular diet the maiden fed on.
from Chapter 1 of Autumnal Tints

contributed by Bill Hanna



I too had woven a kind of basket of a delicate texture,
but I had not made it worth anyone's while to buy them.
Yet not the less, in my case, did I think it worth my while to weave them,
and instead of studying how to make it worth men's while to buy my baskets,
I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of selling them.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Alfred La Pointe



Perfect sincerity and transparency make a great part of beauty,
as in dewdrops, lakes, and diamonds.
from the Journal (June 20, 1840)

contributed by Patricia Anne Kuniega



Hope and the future for me are not in lawns and cultivated fields,
not in towns and cities, but in the impervious and quaking swamps.
From the essay Walking

contributed by Randy Porter



The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad,
and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior.
What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Richard Lenat



A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.
It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures
the depth of his own nature.
from the chapter "The Ponds" in Walden

contributed by Eric Brown



In the days before his death,
his Aunt Louisa asked him if he had made his peace with God.
His answer was "I did not know we had ever quarrelled, Aunt."
from the Harding and Richardson biographies

contributed by Paul Edward Draper



We linger in manhood to tell the dreams of our childhood,
and they are half forgotten ere we have learned the language.
from the chapter "Friday"
in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

contributed by Kenneth Bass




Say what you have to say, not what you ought.
Any truth is better than make-believe.
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Christopher David Greiner



It is a rare qualification to be able to state a fact simply and adequately.
To digest some experience cleanly.
To say yes and no with authority--To make a square edge.
To conceive & suffer the truth to pass through us living & and intact....
Say it and have done with it. Express it without expressing ourself.
See not with the eye of science -- which is barren --
nor of youthful poetry which is impotent.
from the Journal (November 1, 1851)

contributed by Wallace Kaufman



As in old times they who dwelt on the heath
remote from towns were backward to adopt the doctrines
which prevailed there, and were therefore called heathen
in a bad sense, so we dwellers in the huckleberry pastures,
which are our heath lands, are slow to adopt the notions
of large towns and cities and may perchance be
nicknamed huckleberry people.
from the Journal (December 30, 1860)

contributed by Gary Robertson



Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you,
opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by John Butkis




I should not talk so much about myself
if there were anybody else whom I knew as well.
Unfortunately, I am confined to this theme by the narrowness
of my experience.
from the chapter "Economy" in Walden

contributed by Ron Faraday

What kind of complete moron would read all of this

Why the hell does everyone keep quoting that damn Thoreau post, my scroller button is wearing out.

"Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries." - James A. Michener

"My Country, in her intercourses with other countries may she always be in the right. But my Country, right or wrong." Stephen Decatur

"We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people." - Arthur Schopenhauer

"None of us who have always been free can understand the terrible
fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free." - Pearl S. Buck

Lisa: Do we have any food that wasn't brutally slaughtered?
Homer: Well, I think the veal died of loneliness.

Let the Simpson's quotes begin

"To be nobody but yourself -- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else -- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." - e e cummings

"Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my Faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never...." - Elie Wiesel

"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are." - Anais Nin

"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken:
The crownless again shall be king."

"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."

JRR Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring)

Old McBundy had a farm ... B-U-N-D-Y, and on this farm he had no wife, B-U-N-D-Y, and a no wife here and a no kids there, a hooker coming over on Friday nights ... Big luscious hooters, a pizza and a beer there ... old McBundy had a farm ... B-U-N-D-Y

"Duct tape is like the force: it has a light side, and a dark side, and it
holds the universe together."

"To be nobody but yourself -- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else -- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." - e e cummings

This is my favorite quote of all time. :)

Jay Leno.... They say the debates are already helping the economy. In fact, millions of people are buying large screen TV sets so they can see Kerry's entire head. .... How many watched the presidential debate [Thursday]? Or, as the networks were calling it: "Rich White Guy Survivor." .... It was hard -- do you want the rich white guy who went to Yale and wears a red tie or the rich white guy who went to Yale and wears a blue tie? We have such choices in our country. .... The first question went to John Kerry because he won the coin toss. Well duh. His wife owns all the coins. .... Political experts say President Bush was off his game. He looked distracted, confused, a little at a loss for words. Off his game? That is Bush's game! .... Some good news from watching the debates -- the terror alert on John Kerry's face has been lowered from orange back down to pasty white. .... [Ralph] Nader is at 1% in the polls, and the margin of error is 3%. You know what that means? Nader is trailing the margin of error. The margin of error is 2 points ahead of him. .... Did you see Edwards and Dick Cheney together? It was like Mr. Wilson yelling at Dennis the Menace: "Get off my lawn!"

"Can miles truly seperate us from friends? If you love someone, aren't you already there?"

Richard Bach

You're only as good as the last choice you made.

-me

Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to
trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule--and both
commonly succeed, and are right... The United States has never
developed an aristocracy really disinterested or an intelligentsia
really intelligent. Its history is simply a record of vacillations
between two gangs of frauds.
H.L. Mencken


England Expects Every Man To Do His Duty
Horatio Nelson, before the battle of Trafalgar


"And I see no reason why anyone should suppose that in the future the same motifs already heard will not be sounding still ... put to use by reasonable men to reasonable ends, or by madmen to nonsense and disaster.", Joseph Campbell, Foreward to The Masks of the Gods: Primitive Mythology

"Freedom is the freedom to say that 2+2=4. If that is granted, all else follows."- George Orwell

"All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome."- George Orwell

"What can you do against the lunatic who is more intelligent than yourself, who gives your arguments a fair hearing and then simply persists in his lunacy?"- George Orwell

And they say that a hero can save us.
I'm not gonna stand here and wait.
-Chad Kroeger "Hero"

When they came for the Jews, I didn't stand up for them because I wasn't Jewish. When they came for the homosexuals, I didn't stand up for them because I wasn't homosexual. When they came for the gypsies, I didn't stand up for them because I wasn't a gypsy. When they came for the agnostics, there was no one left to stand up for me.
-I forgot

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.
-Winston Churchill

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.
-Ambrose Redmoon

"Strange is our situation here upon earth" - Albert Einstien

We have no permanent allies,
we have no permanent enemies,
we only have permanent interests.

Lord Palmerston

"All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusion is called a philosopher." - Ambrose Bierce

"Being ready to die for some idea doesnt mean that idea's worth it." - Oscar Wilde

"Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein


"Me fail english? That's unpossible." - Ralph Wiggum


"Rarely is the question asked: 'Is our children learning?' " - George W. Bush

"The Aztecs killed virgins and called it a religion. The Europeans enslaved blacks and called it economics. Americans tease each other sexually and call it fashion." - Michael Ventura

"All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusion is called a philosopher." - Ambrose Bierce

"Being ready to die for some idea doesnt mean that idea's worth it." - Oscar Wilde

"Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein


"Me fail english? That's unpossible." - Ralph Wiggum


"Rarely is the question asked: 'Is our children learning?' " - George W. Bush

"The Aztecs killed virgins and called it a religion. The Europeans enslaved blacks and called it economics. Americans tease each other sexually and call it fashion." - Michael Ventura


Good ones! :D