Henry David Thoreau Quotes About Contemplation

• It is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support. If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man's shoulders.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Men, Hands, Giving

  Henry David Thoreau (2002). “The Essays of Henry D. Thoreau: Selected and Edited by Lewis Hyde”, p.207, North Point Press

• Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Men, Details, Hours

  Henry David Thoreau (2012). “The Portable Thoreau”, p.202, Penguin

• If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man's shoulders. I must get off him first, that he may pursue his contemplations too.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Life, Wisdom, Men

  Henry David Thoreau (1942). “Civil Disobedience”, p.7, Hayes Barton Press

• One can hardly imagine a more healthful employment, or one more favorable to contemplation and the observation of nature.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Employment, Imagine, Contemplation

  Henry David Thoreau (2016). “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers”, p.148, Xist Publishing

• The natural historian is not a fisherman who prays for cloudy days and good luck merely; but as fishing has been styled "a contemplative man's recreation," introducing him profitably to woods and water, so the fruit of the naturalist's observations is not in new genera or species, but in new contemplations still, and science is only a more contemplative man's recreation.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Good Luck, Men, Fishing

  Henry David Thoreau (2013). “The Essential Thoreau”, p.459, Simon and Schuster

• How important is a constant intercourse with nature and the contemplation of natural phenomena to the preservation of moral and intellectual health!

  Henry David Thoreau

  Nature, Intellectual, Important

  Henry David Thoreau, Jeffrey S. Cramer (2007). “I to Myself: An Annotated Selection from the Journal of Henry D. Thoreau”, p.66, Yale University Press

• The Oriental philosophy approaches easily loftier themes than the modern aspires to; and no wonder if it sometimes prattle about them. It only assigns their due rank respectively to Action and Contemplation, or rather does full justice to the latter. Western philosophers have not conceived of the significance of Contemplation in their sense.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Philosophy, Philosophical, Justice

  Henry David Thoreau (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Henry David Thoreau (Illustrated)”, p.113, Delphi Classics

• Ice is an interesting subject for contemplation. They told me that they had some in the ice-houses at Fresh Pond five years old which was as good as ever. Why is it that a bucket of water soon becomes putrid, but frozen remains sweet forever? It is commonly said that this is the difference between the affections and the intellect.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Sweet, Years, Ice

  Henry David Thoreau (2012). “The Portable Thoreau”, p.315, Penguin

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