My life partakes of infinity. The air is as deep as our natures. I go forth to make new demands on life. I wish to do something worthy of me; to transcend my daily routine; to have my immortality now, that it be in the quality of my daily life; to pay the greatest price, the greatest tax, and enjoy the most. I will give all that I am for my nobility. I will pay all my days for my success. May I dare as I have never done! May I persevere as I have never done! I am eager to report the glory of the universe; may I be worthy to do it; to have got through with regarding human values, so as not to be distracted from regarding divine values.

Henry David Thoreau, The Journal, 1837-1861

Associate reverently and as much as you can with your loftiest thoughts. Each thought that is welcomed and recorded is a nest egg, by the side of which more will be laid. Thoughts accidentally thrown together become a frame in which more may be developed and exhibited…

Having by chance recorded a few disconnected thoughts and then brought them into juxtaposition, they suggest a whole new field in which it is possible to labor and think.

Henry David Thoreau, The Journal, 1837-1861