Everyone who met Thoreau commented on his appearance. Some remarked on his nose, prominent and Roman, “a sort of interrogation mark to the universe”; others his mouth, “uncouth and somewhat rustic”; or his hands, “strong and skillful.” Others remarked on Thoreau’s eerily acute senses, like his keen ear (“He could hear the most faint and distant sounds”) and acute sense of smell (“No hound could scent better”).
