self-discovery Quotes

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?

Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.

There is but one stage for the peasant and the actor.

As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution.

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.

To be awake is to be alive.

Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so.

I was more independent than any farmer in Concord, for I was not anchored to a house or farm, but could follow the bent of my genius, which is a very crooked one, every moment.

The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.