In most books, the I, or first person, is omitted; in this it will be retained; that, in respect to egotism, is the main difference. We commonly do not remember that it is, after all, always the first person that is speaking. I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well. Unfortunately, I am confined to this theme by the narrowness of my experience. Moreover, I, on my side, require of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere account of his own life, and not merely what he has heard of other men's lives; some such account as he would send to his kindred from a distant land; for if he has lived sincerely, it must have been in a distant land to me. Perhaps these pages are more particularly addressed to poor students. As for the rest of my readers, they will accept such portions as apply to them. I trust that none will stretch the seams in putting on the coat, for it may do good service to him whom it fits. Henry David Thoreau
About This Quote

Many people twist the truth to fit their own opinions. The truth is often hard to swallow, so people stretch it to make their own ideas more palatable. They take the words of others and tell their own story, one that does not match the words of the original author. If you are reading this book then you are most likely doing this as well.

We all do it, and it is something that needs to be taken seriously. Life is not intended to be a game of give and take, where you win by taking without giving. But, this is often how our lives are conducted these days.

We are more concerned with what we want than what others need or want. To put it simply, you are not serving anyone if all you do is give them what they ask for.

Source: Walden

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More Quotes By Henry David Thoreau
  1. The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed...

  2. I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours..

  3. The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.

  4. It is not worth the while to let our imperfections disturb us always.

  5. I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

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