None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often imprisoned rather than housed by them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Homes can feel more like burdens than sanctuaries, restricting our freedom instead of providing comfort.
Henry David Thoreauβs quote reflects the idea that the physical structures we call home can become overwhelming and confining, trapping us in routines and responsibilities that detract from our quality of life. Instead of serving as a refuge, they can create a sense of imprisonment, hindering our pursuit of freedom and happiness.
Themes
HomesFreedomBurdenPropertyHappiness
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about minimalist living, one could use this quote to emphasize the benefits of simplifying one's possessions.
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.
Henry David ThoreauRead
That grand old poem called Winter
Henry David ThoreauRead
Similar quotes
When the storyteller tells the truth, she reminds us that human beings are more alike than unalike... A story is what it's like to be a human being-to be knocked down and to miraculously arise. Each one of us has arisen, awakened. We do rise.
Maya AngelouRead
As for solitude, I cannot understand how certain people seek to lay claim to intellectual stature, nobility of soul and strength of character, yet have not the slightest feeling for seclusion; for solitude, I maintain, when joined with a quiet contemplation of nature, a serene and conscious faith in creation and the Creator, and a few vexations from outside is the only school for a mind of lofty endowment.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Government is a necessary evil
Thomas PaineRead
And fantasy it was, for we were not strong, only aggressive; we were not free, merely licensed; we were not compassionate, we were polite; not good, but well behaved. We courted death in order to call ourselves brave, and hid like thieves from life. We substituted good grammar for intellect; we switched habits to simulate maturity; we rearranged lies and called it truth, seeing in the new pattern of an old idea the Revelation and the Word.
Toni MorrisonRead
An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed in retaliation.
Coretta Scott KingRead
The jealous man lives in hell. Drop comparing and jealousy disappears, meanness disappears, phoniness disappears. But you can drop it only if you start growing your inner treasures; there is no other way.
RajneeshRead