None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
If the laborer gets no more than the wages which his employer pays him, he is cheated, he cheats himself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that a laborer who simply accepts what he is paid is not only being cheated by his employer but is also failing to realize his own potential.
Henry David Thoreau's quote emphasizes the notion that accepting a mere paycheck without striving for more is akin to self-deception. It implies that individuals must recognize their worth and potential, suggesting that fulfilling work should ideally be more than just financial compensation; it should also include personal growth, satisfaction, and a sense of purpose.
Themes
LaborWagesSelf-WorthPotentialWorkEmployer
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about job satisfaction, one might say, 'As Thoreau pointed out, if we only chase wages, we cheat ourselves out of true fulfillment.'
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
If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation.
John OwenRead
Our greatest pretenses are built up not to hide the evil and the ugly in us, but our emptiness. The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there.
Eric HofferRead
Each time the losses and deceptions of life teach us about impermanence, they bring us closer to the truth. When you fall from a great height, there is only one possible place to land: on the ground-the ground of truth. And if you have the understanding that comes from spiritual practice, then falling is in no way a disaster, but the discovery of an inner refuge.
Sogyal RinpocheRead
We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds... A nation of men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
He who wishes to revenge injuries by reciprocal hatred will live in misery. But he who endeavors to drive away hatred by means of love, fights with pleasure and confidence; he resists equally one or many men, and scarcely needs at all the help of fortune. Those whom he conquers yield joyfully
Baruch SpinozaRead
Your faith will not fail while God sustains it; you are not strong enough to fall away while God is resolved to hold you.
J. I. PackerRead