None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
City life is millions of people being lonesome together.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the paradox of urban living where individuals can feel isolated despite being surrounded by many others.
Henry David Thoreau's quote highlights a profound insight into the nature of city life, where the sheer volume of people can create a sense of loneliness and disconnection among individuals. In a bustling urban environment, the physical proximity of millions does not guarantee emotional or social connection, leading many to experience feelings of solitude even in throngs of bustling crowds. This phenomenon raises questions about the human experience and the fundamental need for meaningful connections in an increasingly crowded world.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about urban development, one might say, 'As Thoreau observed, city life is millions of people being lonesome together, highlighting the need for community spaces.'
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.
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
Similar quotes
God [is] not the exclusive property of any one tradition. The divine light [cannot] be confined to a single lamp, belonging to the East or the West, but enlightens all human beings.
I see nothing but Becoming. Be not deceived! It is the fault of your limited outlook and not the fault of the essence of things if you believe that you see firm land anywhere in the ocean of Becoming and Passing. You need names for things, just as if they had a rigid permanence, but the very river in which you bathe a second time is no longer the same one which you entered before
Wealth and speed are what the world admires, what each pursues. Railways, express mails, steamships and every possible facility for communications are the achievement in which the civilized world view and revels, only to languish in mediocrity by that very fact. Indeed, the effect of this diffusion is to spread the culture of the mediocre.
National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatical ethnic or religious or national chauvinisms are a little difficult to maintain when we see our planet as a fragile blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars.
One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable. We shall then have discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them.
Far from being the father of jihad, [Prophet] Mohammad was a peacemaker, who risked his life and nearly lost the loyalty of his closest companions because he was determined to effect a reconciliation with Mecca