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
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I lost my sleep, and this is the greatest tragedy that can befall someone. It is much worse than sitting in prison.
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Ambrose BierceRead
These days I must take the world in small and carefully measured doses. It is a sort of homeopathic cure I am undergoing, though I am not certain what this cure is meant to mend. Perhaps I am learning to live amongst the living again. Practising, I mean. But no, that is not it. Being here is just a way of not being anywhere.
John BanvilleRead
May we live like the lotus, at home in muddy water.
Gautama BuddhaRead
To live past the end of your myth is a perilous thing.
Anne CarsonRead