None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Removing the weeds, putting fresh soil about the bean stems, and encouraging this weed which I had sown, making the yellow soil express its summer thought in bean leaves and blossoms rather than in wormwood and piper and millet grass, making the earth say beans instead of grass, - this was my daily work.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of nurturing growth and cultivating positivity while removing negativity.
In this quote, Thoreau reflects on his daily efforts to foster the growth of beans in his garden, symbolizing the broader idea of nurturing positive aspects of life while actively working to eliminate undesirable elements. The metaphor of weeds represents distractions or negativity, while the beans symbolize the fruitful efforts that can flourish when given proper care and attention.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal growth and resilience, I could use this quote to illustrate the importance of cultivating positive habits.
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
Beauty is composed of many things and never stands alone. It is part of horizons, blue in the distance, great primeval silences, knowledge of all things of the earth. It embodies the hopes and dreams of those who have gone before, including the spirit world; it is so fragile it can be destroyed by a sound or thought. It may be infinitesimally small or encompass the universe itself. It comes in a swift conception wherever nature has not been disturbed.
The responses that environmentalists evoke - fear, anxiety, numbness, despair - are not helpful, even if they are understandable. It should be fascinating, even enthralling, to be in the milieu of environmental change.
The unexplainable thing in nature that makes me feel the world is big fat beyond my understanding – to understand maybe by trying to put it into form. To find the feeling of infinity on the horizon line or just over the next hill.
To be a friend of the Everglades is not necessarily to spend time wandering around out there.
There must be something strangely sacred about salt. It is in our tears and in the sea.
Nature knows best how to organise.
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