None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Books, not which afford us a cowering enjoyment, but in which each thought is of unusual daring; such as an idle man cannot read, and a timid one would not be entertained by, which even make us dangerous to existing institution - such call I good books.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Good books challenge our thinking and provoke us to question societal norms.
Henry David Thoreau's quote emphasizes the importance of engaging with literature that stimulates bold and critical thinking. He suggests that true good books are those that provoke the reader to challenge existing beliefs and institutions, stirring a sense of danger in complacency and promoting intellectual courage. They are not merely for passive enjoyment; rather, they require active engagement and a willingness to confront difficult ideas.
Themes
BooksReadingChallengeThoughtIntellectCourage
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the impact of literature on society.
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
You have no choice as a professional chef: you have to repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat until it becomes part of yourself. I certainly don't cook the same way I did 40 years ago, but the technique remains. And that's what the student needs to learn: the technique.
Jacques PepinRead
I think kids in every minority need to see people like themselves in books; that's an acknowledgment of their existence on this planet and in this society.
Nancy GardenRead
Prescriptive grammar has spread linguistic insecurity like a plague among English speakers for centuries, numbs us to the aesthetic richness of non-standard speech, and distracts us from attending to genuine issues of linguistic style in writing.
John H. McwhorterRead
First figure out why you want the students to learn the subject and what you want them to know, and the method will result more or less by common sense.
Richard P. FeynmanRead
For some years now I have read through the Bible twice every year. If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a little branch, I have shaken every one of these branches because I wanted to know what it was and what it meant.
Martin LutherRead
The child is truly a miraculous being, and this should be felt deeply by the educator.
Maria MontessoriRead