If a man walk in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer; but if he spends his whole day as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making earth bald before her time, he is esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. As if a town had no interest in its forests but to cut them down!

Henry David Thoreau

Life Without Principle

More information about this quote

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Original Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Life Without Principle." The Atlantic, Oct. 1863.

Current Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Life Without Principle." Walden and Other Writings. Modern Library, 2000.