None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Gardening fosters community and civility but lacks the wildness and freedom found in nature's untamed spaces.
In this quote, Henry David Thoreau contrasts the structured, social activity of gardening with the wild, unrestricted essence of nature represented by forests and outlaws. He suggests that while gardening has its merits in promoting social interaction and civility, it also yearns for the raw vigor and independence that comes from the untamed wilderness, highlighting a tension between civilization and nature's freedom.
Themes
GardeningNatureCivilizationFreedomWildness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about urban green spaces, one could use this quote to address the balance between community gardens and natural preservation.
More from Henry David Thoreau
All quotes βThrough 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.
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That grand old poem called Winter
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Similar quotes
When wheat is ripening properly, when the wind is blowing across the field, you can hear the beards of the wheat rubbing together. They sound like the pine needles in a forest. It is a sweet, whispering music that once you hear, you never forget.
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There's something about rushing water that I can watch for hours and feel as if I need to do nothing more. It's alive in a way that's greater than any description of it.
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Nothing could be more pleasant than to live in solitude, enjoy the spectacle of nature, and occasionally read some book.
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To his eyes all seemed beautiful, but to me a tinge of melancholy lay upon the countryside, which bore so clearly the mark of the waning year, Yellow leaves carpeted the lanes and fluttered down upon us as we passed, The rattle of our wheels died away as we drove through drifts of rotting vegetation--sad gifts, as it seemed to me, for Nature to throw before the carriage of the returning heir of the Baskervilles.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.
Henry JamesRead
Those of us who witness the degraded state of the environment and the suffering that comes with it cannot afford to be complacent. We continue to be restless. If we really carry the burden, we are driven to action. We cannot tire or give up. We owe it to the present and future generations of all species to rise up and walk!
Wangari MaathaiRead