None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
I have found that no exertion of the legs can bring two minds much nearer to one another.
Interpretation
Physical effort cannot replace mental or emotional connection between people.
In this quote, Thoreau emphasizes that no matter how much effort we put into physical activities or exertion, it does not necessarily facilitate a deeper understanding or connection between individuals. True closeness comes from engaging thoughts and feelings, suggesting that relationships require more than mere physical presence or interaction; they need emotional and intellectual engagement to thrive.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of emotional intelligence, I could use this quote to illustrate that meaningful relationships go beyond mere physical interaction.
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
... the more one needs God the more perfect he is. To need God is nothing to be ashamed of but is perfection itself. It is the saddest thing in the world if a human being goes through life without discovering that he needs God!
No member of a society has a right to teach any doctrine contrary to what the society holds to be true.
Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than Godβs appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere.
Cynics are - beneath it all - only idealists with awkwardly high standards.
Admiration is a very short-lived passion, that immediately decays upon growing familiar with its object.
The universe has become not only conscious and aware of itself but capable in some respects of choosing its path into the future--though all three, the consciousness, the knowledge, and the choice, are dispersed over a vast crowd of beings, acting both individually and collectively.
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