None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the greater part of his life getting his living.
Interpretation
Focusing solely on making a living can lead to wasted life and missed opportunities for fulfillment.
In this quote, Henry David Thoreau suggests that a life spent primarily on the pursuit of financial security can be a tragic mistake. He emphasizes that if one dedicates most of their existence to merely earning a living, they may overlook the true essence of life, which lies in experiences, passions, and personal growth, ultimately leading to an unfulfilled and regretful existence.
In practice
In a graduation speech to inspire students to seek fulfillment beyond just a paycheck.
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
I don't know if I should care for a man who made life easy; I should want someone who made it interesting.
Most of American life consists of driving somewhere and then returning home, wondering why the hell you went.
Life shoould be touched, not strangled. You've got to relax, let it happen at times, and at other move forward with it.
In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semi-human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.
Every junkie, he thought, is a recording.
I cannot rest from travel: I will drink Life to the lees: all times I have enjoyed Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those That loved me, and alone.
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