None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
If words were invented to conceal thought, newspapers are a great improvement of a bad invention
Interpretation
The quote critiques the use of language as a means of hiding true intentions, suggesting that media often distorts reality.
Henry David Thoreau's quote implies that while language can be used to obscure genuine thoughts and feelings, print media, particularly newspapers, enhances this negative trait of language. He cynically suggests that newspapers take the art of deception to a new level, thereby improving upon a flawed way of communication that initially aimed to be truthful but instead masks reality.
In practice
In a speech about media literacy, one might reference this quote to highlight the importance of critical thinking.
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling and spending their lives like servants.
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
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.
That grand old poem called Winter
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
A grocer is attracted to his business by a magnetic force as great as the repulsion which renders it odious to artists.
Maybe we ought to consider a Golden Rule in foreign policy: Don't do to other nations what we don't want happening to us. We endlessly bomb these countries and then we wonder why they get upset with us?
I see tremendous imbalance in the world. A very uneven playing field, which has gotten tilted very badly. I consider it unstable. At the same time, I don't exactly see what is going to reverse it.
I am not afraid of death. I just don't want to be there when it happens.
In the year of 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening, which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life.
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