None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
It is better to have your head in the clouds, and know where you are... than to breathe the clearer atmosphere below them, and think that you are in paradise.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Dreaming is valuable if it doesn't make you lose touch with reality.
This quote by Thoreau emphasizes the importance of balancing dreams and aspirations with an awareness of one's actual circumstances. It suggests that having lofty ideals and ambitions is beneficial, but one must remain grounded in reality to truly appreciate and navigate life effectively.
Themes
DreamsRealityAwarenessAspirationBalance
In practice
Example use cases
A motivational speaker might use this quote to inspire individuals to dream big while staying rooted in reality.
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
A more secret, sweet, and overpowering beauty appears to man when his heart and mind open to the sentiment of virtue.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
The value of three things is justly appreciated by all classes of men: youth, by the old; health, by the diseased; and wealth, by the needy.
Omar KhayyamRead
Prejudice and self-sufficiency naturally proceed from inexperience of the world, and ignorance of mankind.
Joseph AddisonRead
If you get all the facts, your judgment can be right; if you don't get all the facts, it can't be right.
Bernard BaruchRead
Life is tough pilgrim, it is even tougher if you're stupid
John WayneRead
I always write the end of everything first. I always write the last chapters of my books before I write the beginning....Then I go back to the beginning. I mean, it's always nice to know where you're going is my theory.
Truman CapoteRead