Henry David Thoreau Quotes

There were times when I could not afford to sacrifice the bloom of the present moment to any work, whether of head or hands. Sometimes, in a summer morning, having taken my accustomed bath, I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in reverie, amidst the pines and hickories and sumachs, in undisturbed solitude and stillness, while the birds sang around. I grew in those seasons like corn in the night, and they were far better than any work of the hands would have been. They were not time subtracted from my life, but so much over and above my usual allowance.

There is nothing like being left alone again, to walk peacefully with oneself in the woods. To boil one's coffee and fill one's pipe, and to think idly and slowly as one does it.

I would enjoy sitting in a rocker... listening to soft music and contemplating the things of the universe. But such activity offers no challenge and makes no contribution.

I think you get better at staring into space. Especially living in the South of France.

I do fish. I think there is a connection between thinking and fishing mostly because you spend a lot of time up to your waist in water without a whole lot to keep your mind busy.

But I try to steal other moments. Sometimes I get up very early in the morning and enjoy a quiet house and cup of tea before the craziness begins. Other times, I'll take a quick walk on the beach. You can find peace in a few minutes.

I feel very meditative when I ride. A horse does not know whether my movie is a hit or a flop or what is happening in my relationship.

I'm an introvert... I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky.

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.

The very pointlessness of a sea walk is it's attractiveness to me.

I love being in the woods, when I can just walk barefoot in the grass and just sit down and breathe. I love that so much.

Luxury, to me, is not owning a lot of stuff. Luxury, to me, is feeling unrushed.

I lean and loaf at my ease... observing a spear of summer grass.

What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?

And the idea of just wandering off to a cafe with a notebook and writing and seeing where that takes me for awhile is just bliss.

At heart I am a librarian, a bird-watcher, a transcendentalist, a gardener, a spinster, a monk.

In my down time, I'm a homebody. I like to do a walkabout. I like my alone time.

I like to take walks in the park by myself, where no one can bother me and I can think.

When was the last time you spent a quiet moment just doing nothing - just sitting and looking at the sea, or watching the wind blowing the tree limbs, or waves rippling on a pond, a flickering candle or children playing in the park?

I find music distracting - it takes me out of my head. What I love so much about skiing is the peacefulness.

You are welcome to your intellectual pastimes and books and art and newspapers; welcome, too, to your bars and your whisky that only makes me ill. Here am I in the forest, quite content.

In the two-room flat where I live in Japan, I try to take time every day to step away from the bombardment of e-mails and opportunities and papers around my desk, for an hour, and just sit on our 30-inch terrace in the sun, reading something sustaining, whether 'The Age of Innocence' or the latest by Colm Toibin.

I feel calm when I'm on my own.

Something I like to do a lot is just sit by water when there's a current and just stare into the water. I don't fish, I don't hunt, I don't scuba, I don't spear, don't boat, don't play basketball or football - I excel at staring into space. I'm really good at that.

I love silence. But I usually only listen to that when I'm sleeping.