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Henry David Thoreau

Quote of Henry David Thoreau - As you simplify your life, the...


Biography - Henry David Thoreau:

American essayist, poet and philosopher.
Born: 1817 - Died: 1862
Period:
19th century
Place of birth: United States
United States

As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.


Note 

Note



Exact quotation: "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. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. 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."

Walden, or, Life in the Woods




Translation

Translation

(French, German)



French
À mesure que l'on simplifie sa vie, les lois de l'univers apparaîtront moins complexes, la solitude ne sera plus la solitude, la pauvreté ne sera plus pauvreté, ni la faiblesse faiblesse.

German
Je mehr du dein Leben vereinfachst, desto weniger schwierig werden die Gesetze des Kosmos dir erscheinen. Einsamkeit wird nicht Einsamkeit, Armut nicht Armut und Schwäche nicht Schwäche sein.




See also 

See also...



There is more to life than increasing its speed.

Do not trouble yourself, make yourself simple.

A quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest.

Esteem is worth more than celebrity, respect is worth more than renown, and honor is worth more than fame.




Quotes for: life


Quotes

Quotes about life:


As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.





Man arrives as a novice at each age of his life.





A happy life, therefore, is one which is in accordance with its own nature.





To live means to love, but above all, to love life.





Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.





All the diversity, all the charm, all the beauty of life are made up of light and shade.











Quotes for: simplicity


Quotes

Quotes about simplicity:


Out of clutter find simplicity ; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.





The language of truth is simple.





Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.





Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.





Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.





Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.











Quotes for: solitude


Quotes

Quotes about solitude:


Miss one person and the world seems empty.





A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.





All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone.





The wise man sometimes flees from society from fear of being bored.





One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude.





I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.











Quotes for: weakness


Quotes

Quotes about weakness:


No man is weak by choice.





What is tolerance? It is the endowment of humanity. We are all steeped in weakness and error; let us forgive each other our stupidities, that is the first law of nature.





Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed.





What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult.





The weakness of human reason appears more evidently in those who know it not, than in those who know it.





Love you will find only where you may show yourself weak without provoking strength.











Quotes for: poverty


Quotes

Quotes about poverty:


Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice.





Nature never said to me: Do not be poor; still less did she say: Be rich; her cry to me was always: Be independent.





Abundance makes me poor.





A propensity to hope and joy is real riches: One to fear and sorrow, real poverty.





Another cause of our poverty lies in our new needs.





I met in the street a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, his cloak was out at the elbows, the water passed through his shoes, - and the stars through his soul.











Quotes

Henry David Thoreau also said...


It is never too late to give up our prejudices.





Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.





It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.





It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.





A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener. So our prospects brighten on the influx of better thoughts.





Love must be as much a light as it is a flame.












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