None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling and spending their lives like servants.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote criticizes the lack of initiative and belief in people, suggesting they live mundane lives dictated by commercial activities.
Henry David Thoreau's quote reflects on how many individuals lead unfulfilled lives, constrained by their lack of ambition and belief in greater possibilities. It suggests that people often become consumed by material pursuits—buying, selling, and spending—turning them into 'servants' of society rather than taking charge of their destinies through enterprise and faith in themselves.
Themes
EnterpriseFaithAmbitionLifeFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech to inspire young professionals to pursue their dreams.
More from Henry David Thoreau
All quotes →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
Whether the flower looks better in the nosegay than in the meadow where it grew and we had to wet our feet to get it! Is the scholastic air any advantage?
Henry David ThoreauRead
Similar quotes
The culture industry not so much adapts to the reactions of its customers as it counterfeits them.
Theodor AdornoRead
I have a wish. It as a fear as well - that in my end will be my beginning.
Che GuevaraRead
It is hardly plausible to view a whole succession of logics as an evolutionary and functional program of innate wiring, particularly in light of the fact that the most mature logical structures are reached only by some adults.
Lawrence KohlbergRead
Conventionality is not morality.
Charlotte BronteRead
If you would enjoy real freedom, you must be the slave of Philosophy.
EpicurusRead
When I read profiles of myself, I sometimes think: 'I have spent my whole life struggling to understand my motivations and impulses, and I've never quite sorted them out.'
Michael PalinRead