None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. Books, the oldest and the best, stand naturally and rightfully on the shelves of every cottage. They have no cause of their own to plead, but while they enlighten and sustain the reader his common sense will not refuse them. Their authors are a natural and irresistible aristocracy in every society, and, more than kings or emperors, exert an influence on mankind.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Books hold immense value and knowledge, passed down generations, shaping society and influencing individuals.
In this quote, Thoreau emphasizes the importance of books as a form of wealth that enriches the minds of individuals and societies. He suggests that books should have a prominent place in people's lives, as they provide enlightenment and understanding that transcend societal hierarchies. Thoreau likens authors to an 'aristocracy' whose influence can surpass that of traditional rulers, highlighting how literature shapes culture and thought across generations.
Themes
BooksWealthKnowledgeInfluenceCulture
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of education, one could quote Thoreau to emphasize how books shape our understanding.
More from Henry David Thoreau
All quotes →Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling and spending their lives like servants.
Henry David ThoreauRead
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
Henry David ThoreauRead
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.
Henry David ThoreauRead
That grand old poem called Winter
Henry David ThoreauRead
Similar quotes
My shorthand answer is that I try to write the kind of book that I would like to read. If I can make it clear and interesting and compelling to me, then I hope maybe it will be for the reader.
David McculloughRead
You are told a lot about your education, but some beautiful, sacred memory, preserved since childhood, is perhaps the best education of all. If a man carries many such memories into life with him, he is saved for the rest of his days. And even if only one good memory is left in our hearts, it may also be the instrument of our salvation one day.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
I have been long sensible that while I was endeavoring to render our country the greatest of all services, that of regenerating the public education, and placing our rising generation on the level of our sister states (which they have proudly held heretofore), I was discharging the odious function of a physician pouring medicine down the throat of a patient insensible of needing it.
Thomas JeffersonRead
I read comics and I did science, and never really put them together until I accidentally found myself in the middle of one.
Randall MunroeRead
Our children are the living messages we send to a future we will ever see... Will we rob them of their destiny? Will we rob them of their dreams? No - we will not do that.
Elijah CummingsRead
People start panicking because they think it's the end of everything. But the fact is, you know, books survived movies; books survived TV. Books are surviving manga and anime. Books will always be there in one form or another. You just have a larger palette of entertainment options.
John ScalziRead