None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
The birds I heard today, which, fortunately, did not come within the scope of my science, sang as freshly as if it had been the first morning of creation.
Interpretation
The beauty of nature is timeless and refreshing, transcending scientific understanding.
In this quote, Thoreau emphasizes the idea that the natural world has a beauty and freshness that exists independently of human understanding or scientific categorization. The sounds of the birds bring a sense of wonder and connection to the essence of life, reminding us that nature's simplicity and vitality can be appreciated without needing to analyze or define it.
In practice
Use this quote in a speech about the importance of preserving natural beauty.
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling and spending their lives like servants.
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.
That grand old poem called Winter
For the sight of the angry weather saddens my soul and the sight of the town, sitting like a bereaved mother beneath layers of ice, oppresses my heart.
The spectacle of Nature is always new, for she is always renewing the spectators. Life is her most exquisite invention; and death is her expert contrivance to get plenty of life.
One thing I did was grow up as an ardent naturalist. I never grew out of my bug period.
Why do we as a people choose to live in beautiful and risky places? Beautiful places are relatively dangerous; the forces that made them beautiful are the same forces that will ultimately destroy them.
Very old are the woods; And the buds that break Out of the brier's boughs, When March winds wake, So old with their beauty are-- Oh, no man knows Through what wild centuries Roves back the rose.
The planting of trees is the least self-centered of all that we can do. It is a purer act of faith than the procreation of children.
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