None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
How many things there are concerning which we might well deliberate whether we had better know them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the value of knowledge and the deliberation involved in choosing what to learn.
Henry David Thoreau's quote encourages reflection on the nature of knowledge and the complexities of discernment in our learning processes. It suggests that not all information is beneficial or necessary, prompting us to consider the implications of what we choose to know and understand. This contemplation invites a mindful approach to education and awareness, recognizing that some knowledge might not enhance our lives, while other knowledge could be transformative.
Themes
KnowledgeDeliberationLearningPhilosophyUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
During a seminar on education, one could use this quote to discuss the importance of critical thinking in what we choose to learn.
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
All things are in flux; the flux is subject to a unifying measure or rational principle. This principle (logos, the hidden harmony behind all change) bound opposites together in a unified tension, which is like that of a lyre, where a stable harmonious sound emerges from the tension of the opposing forces that arise from the bow bound together by the string.
HeraclitusRead
In the Halls of Justice the only justice is in the halls.
Lenny BruceRead
The establishment will irritate you - pull your beard, flick your face - to make you fight. Because once they've got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don't know how to handle is non-violence and humor.
John LennonRead
If you follow reason far enough it always leads to conclusions that are contrary to reason.
Samuel ButlerRead
It wasn't until I got to Cambridge that I discovered active discrimination against women.
Mary BeardRead
Early on I decided that fishing would be my way of looking at the world. First it taught me to look at rivers. Lately it has been teaching me how to look at people, myself included.
Thomas McguaneRead