None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Every man is the builder of a temple, called his body, to the god he worships, after a style purely his own, nor can he get off by hammering marble instead. We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones. Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man's features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes that individuals shape their own existence and character through their actions and choices.
Henry David Thoreau asserts that each person is responsible for crafting their own identity and physicality, akin to an artist creating a masterpiece. The quality of one's character, whether noble or base, directly influences one's outward appearance and essence, suggesting that our moral and ethical choices define us and the way we present ourselves to the world.
Themes
IdentityCharacterCreationResponsibilityNobility
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal growth.
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.
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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
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