None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
How can we expect a harvest of thought who have not had a seedtime of character?
Interpretation
Character development is essential for intellectual growth.
Henry David Thoreau suggests that in order to foster a fruitful and productive mindset, one must first cultivate their character. Just as a seed must be planted and nurtured for a successful harvest, individuals need to develop their values and principles to nurture their thoughts and ideas.
In practice
This quote can be used during a motivational speech about personal development.
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
To kill, in war or in any circumstance, creates a silence. It is right that silence should surround the taking of life. After all, the life taken is not ours to take.
Until the reality of equality between man and woman is fully established and attained, the highest social development of mankind is not possible.
You can't have a value structure without a hierarchy. They're the same thing because a value structure means one thing takes precedence over another.
Hold loosely to the things of this life, so that if God requires them of you, it will be easy to let them go.
I just don't think that the differences you make by donating to a museum or an art gallery really compare to the differences you make by donating to the charities that fight global poverty.
Many people find bald, unvarnished truths so disturbing, they prefer to ram their heads in the sand and start dreaming at the first sign of scientific reality.
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