None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
We cannot well do without our sins; they are the highway of our virtue.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Sins are an essential part of our growth and understanding of virtue.
In this quote, Thoreau suggests that our mistakes and sins are not merely obstacles but crucial elements that lead to the development of our virtues. The experience of wrongdoing allows individuals to learn, reflect, and ultimately appreciate the value of goodness and virtue in a deeper way.
Themes
SinsVirtueGrowthUnderstandingPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical discussion about morality and ethics.
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
I have to confess that I had gambled on my soul and lost it with heroic insouciance and lightness of touch. The soul is so impalpable, so often useless, and sometimes such a nuisance, that I felt no more emotion on losing it than if, on a stroll, I had mislaid my visiting card.
Charles BaudelaireRead
And so there would always be more to remember that could no longer be seen...our history is always returning to a little patch of weeds and saplings with an old chimney sticking up by itself...and here I look ahead to the resting of my case: I love the house that belonged to the chimney, holding it bright in memory, and love the saplings and the weeds.
Wendell BerryRead
Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.
Wallace StevensRead
We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.
Jonathan GottschallRead
From silly devotions and from sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us.
Teresa Of AvilaRead
The sickly, weakly, timid man fears the people, and is a Tory by nature. The healthy, strong and bold cherishes them, and is formed a Whig by nature.
Thomas JeffersonRead