Henry David Thoreau Quotes

A man is not to aim at innocence, any more than he is to aim at hair, but he is to keep it.

It is our choice of good or evil that determines our character, not our opinion about good or evil.

Good actions ennoble us, and we are the sons of our deeds.

All your scholarship, all your study of Shakespeare and Wordsworth would be in vain, if at the same time you do not build your character, and attain mastery over your thoughts and actions.

Virtue does not come from wealth, but wealth, and every other good thing which men have comes from virtue.

A big part of honesty is self-discipline, personal resolve, and taking pride in who you are as a person and what each action means to your character.

Let every man consider virtue as what devolves on himself. He may not yield the performance of it even to his teacher.

Everybody's got the potential for great good and great wrong in them, but it's the choices we make that define who we really are.

Do you wish the world were better? Let me tell you what to do: Set a watch upon your actions, Keep them always straight and true.

We often pray for purity, unselfishness, for the highest qualities of character, and forget that these things cannot be given, but must be earned.

May your mind be thoroughly impressed with the absolute necessity of universal virtue and goodness, as the only sure road to happiness, and may you walk therein with undeviating steps.

Tis weak and vicious people who cast the blame on Fate. The right use of Fate is to bring up our conduct to the loftiness of nature.

People of poor character tend to blame their choices on circumstances. Ethical people make good choices regardless of circumstances. If they make enough good choices, they begin to create better conditions for themselves.

As to virtue . . . it is an act of the will, a habit which increases the quantity, intensity and quality of life. It builds up, strengthens and vivifies personality.

It was time to pull my moral socks up and behave myself.

You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.

It's not enough to have good intentions. If you want to be a good person, you have to make good decisions all the time and live a life that's worth living and that you can be proud of, and that's what I wanted.

Seek virtue and of that posest, to Providence resign the rest.

You will not become a saint through other people's sins.

The choice of life is not between fame and fortune, nor wealth and poverty, but between good and evil.

There is but one pursuit in life which it is in the power of all to follow, and of all to attain. It is subject to no disappointments, since he that perseveres, makes every difficulty an advancement, and every contest a victory; and this is the pursuit of virtue.

Character isn't something you were born with and can't change, like your fingerprints. It's something you weren't born with and must take responsibility for forming.

Laws control the lesser man... Right conduct controls the greater one.

Good actions ennoble us, we are the sons of our own deeds.

Respect for self is the beginning of cultivating virtue in men and women.