Henry David Thoreau Quotes

The reformer does not want to move left; he wants to move forward.

We would be in trouble as a society if there wasn't a constant pressure to make reforms and to be just.

I hope the day will never come when the American nation will be the champion of the status quo. Once that happens, we shall have forfeited, and rightly forfeited, the support of the unsatisfied, of those who are the victims of inevitable imperfections, of those who, young in years or spirit, believe that they can make a better world and of those who dream dreams and want to make their dreams to come true.

I worry that even those who want to reform are not quite sure how to go about it. There is so much to be done.

Change isn't always bad; we should always be learning and improving. But the change I was seeing involved principles, not procedures.

Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies.

Reformation, like education, is a journey, not a destination.

Discontent is the first necessity of progress.

All I want to do is change the world.

I'm trying to change the world.

Substantial progress toward better things can rarely be taken without developing new evils requiring new remedies.

To its great credit, Wimbledon has been a leader in bringing about change and improvement in the sport.

This country is undergoing great changes for the better.

Progressive change in this country has never come from above.

If you want change, you have to offer change.

The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress

Without reforms we will repeat the failures of the past.

The evils which are complained of can not be eradicated at once; the work must be gradual.

It is much better to reform than to destroy.

You can't find your way to social reform through the forces that made social reform necessary.

Don't be content with things as they are.

Change is incremental and real change, enduring change, occurs one step at a time.

The common people, the toilers, the men of uncommon sense—these have been responsible for nearly all social-reform measures which the world accepts today.

Criticism is the spur of reform; and Burke's admonition that a healthy society must reform in order to conserve has not lost its force.

The voice of great events is proclaiming to us, Reform, that you may preserve.