“It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.”

More from Henry David Thoreau

• “Things do not change; we change.”

  — Henry David Thoreau · Change · Wisdom

• “All this worldly wisdom was once the unamiable heresy of some wise man.”

  — Henry David Thoreau · Wisdom

• “The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend.”

  — Henry David Thoreau · Friendship

• “A man cannot be said to succeed in this life who does not satisfy one friend.”

  — Henry David Thoreau · Friendship

• “The language of friendship is not words but meanings.”

  — Henry David Thoreau · Friendship

All Henry David Thoreau quotes →