None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
A broad margin of leisure is as beautiful in a man's life as in a book.
Interpretation
Having ample free time is essential for a fulfilling life, just as a wide margin enhances the beauty of a book.
Henry David Thoreau's quote emphasizes the importance of leisure time in a person's life. Just as a book is aesthetically pleasing with its broad margins that provide space for reflection and annotation, a life enriched with leisure allows for personal growth, contemplation, and enjoyment, making it more beautiful and meaningful.
In practice
In a speech about work-life balance, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of downtime.
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
You will walk differently alone, dear, through a thicker atmosphere, forcing your way through the shadows of chairs, through the dripping smoke of the funnels. You will feel your own reflection sliding along the eyes of those who look at you. You are no longer insulated; but I suppose you must touch life in order to spring from it.
The first thing to do in life is to do with purpose what one purposes to do.
But better die than live mechanically a life that is a repetition of repetitions.
I am busier now than I ever imagined I would be, but I feel blessed in that I have found what I am supposed to be doing with my life. It's wonderful to tell stories and have people listen to them.
At sixteen, Sabina took moon baths, first of all, because everyone else took sun baths, and second, she admitted, because she had been told it was dangerous.
There are two things in life you cannot choose. The first is your enemies; the second your family. Sometimes the difference between them is hard to see, but in the end time will show you that the cards you have been dealt could always have been worse.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.