"A man’s ignorance sometimes is not only..." - Quote by Henry David Thoreau

“Whether he sleeps or wakes,--whether he runs or walks,--whether he uses a microscope or a telescope, or his naked eye,--a man never discovers anything, never overtakes anything, or leaves anything behind, but himself. Whatever he says or does, he merely reports himself. If he is in love, he loves; if he is in heaven, he enjoys; if he is in hell, he suffers. It is his condition that determines his locality.”

“Wherever a man goes, men will pursue him and paw him with their dirty institutions, and, if they can, constrain him to belong to their desperate odd-fellow society.”

“Only the traveling is good which reveals to me the value of home and enables me to enjoy it better.”

“The instruction we find in books is like fire. We fetch it from our neighbours, kindle it at home, communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all.”

“Master and Doctor are my titles; for ten years now, without repose, I held my erudite recitals and led my pupils by the nose.”

“Of all the pursuits open to men, the search for wisdom is most perfect, more sublime, more profitable, and more full of joy.”

“And some men are as ignorant of what they do when awake as they are forgetful of what they do when asleep.”

“I know nothing but the certainty of my own ignorance.”

“No one in this world, so far as I know - and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me - has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.”