None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny and trivial.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Thoreau highlights the profound wisdom of the Bhagavad-Gita, contrasting it with the superficiality of contemporary literature.
In this quote, Thoreau expresses his deep appreciation for the philosophical teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita. He believes that the insights offered in this ancient text are so vast and significant that they dwarf the concerns and works of modern society, which he views as lacking depth and substance. By 'bathing' his intellect in such profound thought, Thoreau suggests that true enlightenment comes from engaging with timeless wisdom rather than the fleeting ideas of his own time.
Themes
PhilosophyWisdomBhagavad-GitaIntellectModernity
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of philosophy in education, this quote could emphasize the value of timeless wisdom.
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.
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
Whatever seeds each man cultivates will grow to maturity and bear in him their own fruit. If they be vegetative, he will be like a plant.
Giovanni Pico Della MirandolaRead
It is not to be forgotten that what we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts.
Thomas HuxleyRead
And when the hourglass has run out, the hourglass of temporality, when the noise of secular life has grown silent and its restless or ineffectual activism has come to an end, when everything around you is still, as it is in eternity, then eternity asks you and every individual in these millions and millions about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.
Soren KierkegaardRead
Tragedy is like strong acid - it dissolves away all but the very gold of truth.
D. H. LawrenceRead
Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people.
John Quincy AdamsRead
Slavery is so intolerable a condition that the slave can hardly escape deluding himself into thinking that he is choosing to obey his master's commands when, in fact, he is obliged to. Most slaves of habit suffer from this delusion and so do some writers, enslaved by an all too personal style.
W. H. AudenRead