None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Be as the sailor who keeps the polestar in his eye. By so doing we may not arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we will maintain a true course.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of having a guiding principle or goal, even if the destination isn't immediately clear.
Henry David Thoreau uses the metaphor of a sailor keeping the polestar in sight to illustrate the significance of maintaining focus on one's values or aspirations, regardless of the time it takes to achieve them. The journey may be unpredictable, but by adhering to this guiding star, one can navigate the challenges of life and stay on course toward their ultimate destination.
Themes
SailorPolestarGuiding PrincipleLife'S JourneyFocus
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about staying focused on long-term goals.
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.
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
The proud intellectual seeks knowledge about God, but he never knows God, because he cannot accept the mysteries that he is unable to fully comprehend.
Mother AngelicaRead
Let us not be blind to our differences-but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.
John F. KennedyRead
Always you have been told that work is a curse and labor a misfortune. But I say to you that when you work you fulfill a part of earth's furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born.
Khalil GibranRead
Man can embody truth but he cannot know it.
William Butler YeatsRead
As far as social-economic theory is concerned, I am still a Marxist
Dalai LamaRead
Is it not strange that desire should so many years outlive performance?
William ShakespeareRead