None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
This curious world we inhabit is more wonderful than convenient; more beautiful than it is useful; it is more to be admired and enjoyed than used.
Interpretation
Life is inherently more valuable for its beauty and experiences than for its practical uses.
In this quote, Thoreau emphasizes the profound beauty and wonder of the world we live in, suggesting that it should be appreciated and enjoyed rather than merely utilized for convenience. He encourages a perspective that values admiration and enjoyment of life's inherent qualities over a purely utilitarian approach, advocating for a deep appreciation of nature and existence.
In practice
This quote could inspire a speech about appreciating nature during an environmental conservation event.
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
Private property has made us so stupid and one-sided that an object is only ours when we have it
It is for us and our time...to say the right makes might.
For where is the man that has incontestable evidence of the truth of all that he holds, or of the falsehood of all he condemns; or can say that he has examined to the bottom all his own, or other men's opinions? The necessity of believing without knowledge, nay often upon very slight grounds, in this fleeting state of action and blindness we are in, should make us more busy and careful to inform ourselves than constrain others.
Thoughtfulness for others, generosity, modesty, and self-respect are the qualities which make a real gentleman or lady.
All that we "know" is what registers on our brains, so what you perceive (your individual reality-tunnel) is made up of nothing but thoughts—as Sir Humphrey Davy noted when self-experimenting with nitrous oxide in 1819, and as Buddha noticed by sitting alone until all his social imprints atrophied and dropped away.
Our epoch is a time of tragic collision between matter and spirit and of the downfall of the purely material world view.
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