None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
How can we expect a harvest of thought who have not had a seedtime of character?
Interpretation
Character development is essential for intellectual growth.
Henry David Thoreau suggests that in order to foster a fruitful and productive mindset, one must first cultivate their character. Just as a seed must be planted and nurtured for a successful harvest, individuals need to develop their values and principles to nurture their thoughts and ideas.
In practice
This quote can be used during a motivational speech about personal development.
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
Laws should be made to serve the people. People should not be made to serve the laws.
Nothing is so fatal to religion as indifference.
Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers. Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs; that just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care. Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers
And for me anyway, consciousness is three components: a personal component which for lack of a better word we can call the soul. A collective component which is more archetypal and a deeper level, and then a universal domain of consciousness.
I toyed briefly with an image someone once mentioned to me, of a village in the shadow of a twin-peaked mountain. In the morning the sun rises. At lunch it sets behind the mountain. In the early afternoon it rises once more. The cocks crow for the second time, and later the sun sets again. No. One peak. Metaphors should not be belaboured.
Tyranny and anarchy are never far apart.
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