Thoreau's Book of Quotations

by Henry David Thoreau, Bob Blaisdell (Editor)

To Emerson and other New England transcendentalists who knew him best, Thoreau often seemed prickly and antisocial. But in his writings he was (and is) a man anyone would treasure as a friend, sounding board, and spiritual advisor — a man who trafficked in that rarest of commodities, the truth. Even now, almost 140 years after his death, his voice remains clear and compelling, and his truths are as relevant and meaningful as they were in his lifetime.
In this treasury of more than 450 striking, thought-provoking excerpts from his writing, you will hear him railing against injustice, giving voice to his love of nature, and advocating the simplicity and conscious living that he brought to fruition during his two-year stay at Walden Pond. "To be serene and successful we must be at one with the universe." "Our life is frittered away by detail…. Simplify, simplify."
Grouped under 17 headings, including "Education," "Freedom and Individualism," "Friendship and Love," "Human Nature," "Literature and Writing," "Nature," "Season," and "Solitude," the quotations include such favorites as "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" and "Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk." Whatever category they are in, Thoreau's observations provide so much inspiration and intellectual nourishment that browsing through this book becomes an exciting voyage of discovery into the heart of the human condition.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Poetry, Classics

64 pages, Paperback

First published December 20, 2000

About the author

Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau) was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, philosopher, and abolitionist who is best known for Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism.

In 1817, Henry David Thoreau was born in Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1837, taught briefly, then turned to writing and lecturing. Becoming a Transcendentalist and good friend of Emerson, Thoreau lived the life of simplicity he advocated in his writings. His two-year experience in a hut in Walden, on land owned by Emerson, resulted in the classic, Walden: Life in the Woods (1854). During his sojourn there, Thoreau refused to pay a poll tax in protest of slavery and the Mexican war, for which he was jailed overnight. His activist convictions were expressed in the groundbreaking On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (1849). In a diary he noted his disapproval of attempts to convert the Algonquins "from their own superstitions to new ones." In a journal he noted dryly that it is appropriate for a church to be the ugliest building in a village, "because it is the one in which human nature stoops to the lowest and is the most disgraced." (Cited by James A. Haught in 2000 Years of Disbelief.) When Parker Pillsbury sought to talk about religion with Thoreau as he was dying from tuberculosis, Thoreau replied: "One world at a time."

Thoreau's philosophy of nonviolent resistance influenced the political thoughts and actions of such later figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. D. 1862.

More: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/tho...

http://thoreau.eserver.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Da...

http://transcendentalism-legacy.tamu....

http://www.biography.com/people/henry...

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

We learn three things clearly about Thoreau through the quotations in this book. First, he was not a lover of humankind. His introversion and basic misanthropic world view are on clear display. This does not mean he wished ill on humankind, only that he wanted most to be left alone to pursue his own thoughts and interests.

Second, despite holding humanity in general disfavor, Thoreau was scrupulously moral on the issues of fairness and decency. He was strongly anti-slavery and was against the exploitation of humans in any capacity. For these reasons, he did not have any great respect for government or religion.

Third, he was a lover of nature and an intense observer of the living world (sans humans). His greatest joys came from being immersed in the natural world.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoreau is presented in this text as quotable and somewhat engaging, though this particular edition does not seem to be as well assembled as Twain's quotes also published as a Dover Thrift Edition. Still, the quotes are fairly well arranged and almost as quotable, in my opinion, as Twain's, though the mix of quotes is, one would expect given their different styles, less likely to elicit a chuckle as Thoreau's quotes show a speaker much more academic, less humorous, and in that way, less engaging when just reading excerpts and the like.

Still, a worthy addition to most students' shelves as they will find much good in the words and a quotable source for many learned applications.

[Stetson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good Gems

There are some gem quotes in Thoreau's book... The time gap between his writings and now can be a positive at times and a negative at others...

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed some of what Thoreau had to say but disagreed about others such as his indifference and even disdain for his friends. I would rather read Walden or Civil Disobedience and follow his logic then just look at the "best" stuff he has done in the form of quotes.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone needs a little Thoreau now and then. This little book puts the oft-wordy philosopher into smaller, digestible pieces. SOMEDAY I'll read Walden in it's entirety, until then, I get my Thoreau fix in smaller bites with this book.