None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
If it is surely the means to the highest end we know, can any work be humble or disgusting? Will it not rather be elevating as a ladder, the means by which we are translated?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that any work, if it contributes to a greater purpose, is worthy and uplifting.
Henry David Thoreau's quote emphasizes that the value of our work is determined by its contribution to a higher goal or purpose. When work aligns with a significant end, it transforms into a means of elevation, much like a ladder helps us ascend. This perspective invites us to view even the most humble tasks as essential to personal and collective growth.
Themes
WorkPurposeElevationValueHumbleGrowth
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community service, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of even small contributions to a greater cause.
More from Henry David Thoreau
All quotes →Through 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
She no longer believed in talk. It never rescued anything.
Alice SeboldRead
We are Born like this Into this Into these carefully mad wars Into the sight of broken factory windows of emptiness Into bars where people no longer speak to each other Into fist fights that end as shootings and knifings Born into this Into hospitals which are so expensive that it’s cheaper to die Into lawyers who charge so much it’s cheaper to plead guilty Into a country where the jails are full and the madhouses closed Into a place where the masses elevate fools into rich heroes
Charles BukowskiRead
Challenging the integrity of the non-proliferation regime is a matter which can affect international peace and security.
Mohamed ElbaradeiRead
To encounter Christ is to touch reality and experience transcendence. He gives us a sense of self-worth or personal significance, because He assures us of God's love for us. He sets us free from guilt because He died for us and from paralyzing fear because He reigns. He gives meaning to marriage and home, work and leisure, personhood and citizenship.
John StottRead
It is highly improbable that the bureaucrat will put his life on the line. It is absolutely impossible that he'll put his job on the line.
Eduardo GaleanoRead
It all goes back and back," Tyrion thought, "to our mothers and fathers and theirs before them. We are puppets dancing on the strings of those who came before us, and one day our own children will take up our strings and dance in our steads.
George R. R. MartinRead