There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root, and it may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time… - Henry David Thoreau

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.

That virtue we appreciate is as much ours as another's. We see so much only as we possess.

A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener. So our prospects brighten on the influx of better thoughts. We should be blessed if we lived in the present always, and took advantage of every accident that befell us, like the grass which confesses the influence of the slightest dew that falls on it; and did not spend our time in atoning for the neglect of past opportunities, which we call doing our duty. We loiter in winter while it is already spring.

It is wise to write on many subjects, to try many themes, that so you may find the right and inspiring one.... You must try a thousand themes before you find the right one, as nature makes a thousand acorns to get one oak.