Henry David Thoreau:

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

— Henry David Thoreau Modern

Civil disobedience, Walden

Context

Walden, Chapter 1: Economy

Date / Period

1854

Source

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/205/205-h/205-h.htm#link2H_4_0007

Verification

Unverifiable

Explanation

Found in 1 providers: grok

Method

Cross Reference

Sources Checked

1 source

More from Henry David Thoreau

"I heartily accept the motto, — 'That government is best which governs least'; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which al…"

Controversial

"It is not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."

Strange & Unusual

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation."

Controversial

"As if you could kill time without injuring eternity."

Strange & Unusual

"Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves."

Strange & Unusual

View all sayings from Henry David Thoreau