Henry David Thoreau Change Quotations

Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought.

What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.

Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique.

I say beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.

All change is a miracle to contemplate, but it is a miracle which is taking place every instant.

Things do not change; we change.

We are independent of the change we detect. The longer the lever, the less perceptible its motion. It is the slowest pulsation which is the most vital. The hero then will know how to wait, as well as to make haste. All good abides with him who waiteth wisely; we shall sooner overtake the dawn by remaining here than by hurrying over the hills of the west.

So easy is it, though many housekeepers doubt it, to establish new and better customs in the place of the old.

Man is an animal who more than any other can adapt himself to all climates and circumstances.

For the most part we allow only outlying and transient circumstances to make our occasions. They are, in fact, the cause of our distraction.

The largest pond is as sensitive to atmospheric changes as the globule of mercury in its tube.

Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.

So thoroughly and sincerely are we compelled to live, reverencing our life, and denying the possibility of change. This is the only way, we say; but there are as many ways as there can be drawn radii from one centre. All change is a miracle to contemplate; but it is a miracle which is taking place every instant.

Things don't change. We change.

Both place and time were changed, and I dwelt nearer to those parts of the universe and to those eras in history which had most attracted me.