"There were times when I could not..." - Quote by Henry David Thoreau

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.
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More by Henry David Thoreau

“I do not wish, it happens, to be associated with Massachusetts, either in holding slaves or in conquering Mexico. I am a little better than herself in these respects.”
— Henry David Thoreau
“Webster never goes behind government, and so cannot speak with authority about it. His words are wisdom to those legislators who contemplate no essential reform in the existing government; but for thinkers, and those who legislate for all time, he never once glances at the subject.... Comparatively, he is always strong, original, and, above all, practical. Still, his quality is not wisdom, but prudence.”
— Henry David Thoreau
“It is for no particular item in the tax-bill that I refuse to pay it. I simply wish to refuse allegiance to the State, to withdrawand stand aloof from it effectually. I do not care to trace the course of my dollar, if I could, till it buys a man or a musket to shoot one with,--the dollar is innocent,--but I am concerned to trace the effects of my allegiance. In fact, I quietly declare war with the State, after my fashion, though I will still make what use and get what advantage of her I can, as is usual in such cases.”
— Henry David Thoreau

More on Presence

“Life always is now. Life is inseparable from now.”
— Eckhart Tolle
“Every time you create a gap in the stream of mind, the light of your consciousness grows stronger”
— Eckhart Tolle
“Make the decision to love this day, this place, this moment, this special experience of life with the people around you. And there will be so very much to love.”
— Ralph Marston

More on Solitude

“One ought to sink to the bottom of the sea, probably, and live alone with one's words.”
— Virginia Woolf
“While you are alone you are entirely your own master and if you have one companion you are but half your own, and the less so in proportion to the indiscretion of his behavior.”
— Leonardo da Vinci
“Solitude is fine, but you need someone to tell you that solitude is fine.”
— Honoré de Balzac