Gone wild

Random quote of the day:


"In Wildness is the preservation of the world."

—Henry David Thoreau, “Walking”




Often misquoted, as the Thoreau Institute's Misquotation Page can attest.


( Illustrated version. )

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

The Pursuit

From the notebooks, May 14, 1998.


The Pursuit

Happiness, then, is that thing which
   always rises over the next hill.
Beauty is that eye which beholds its fancy
   (although its fancy is not beheld by all).
Truth, though beautiful to some, is also
   said to be ugly or plain or unvarnished;
   eternal, but simple and honest.
Honor is something you die for, although no one
   says exactly why, except that it might
   have something to do with
Glory, which is said to be shining. But also
   something one can be covered in
   (like a blanket, one supposes),
   and which, I have heard,
   has paths which lead to
Faith. This is somehow linked
   to Hope and Charity, but the link
   seems tenuous, at best,
Compassion being necessary
   for at least the latter, and sadly
   lacking most of the time because
   we're all so damned busy pursuing
   life, and also pursuing
Liberty—that thing we're always on the verge
   of losing (so they say), or at least,
   must defend to the death (though again
   short on specifics, everyone accepts
   this, and therefore so must I),
   and although we are busy pursuing it,
   this fretting over liberty really tends
   to put a damper on our
Happiness.

—PJ Thompson