The heroic actions are performed by such as are oppressed by the meanness of their lives. As in thickest darkness the stars shine brightest.

More from Henry David Thoreau

• Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.
• A man receives only what he is ready to receive... The phenomenon or fact that cannot in any wise be linked with the rest of what he has observed, he does not observe.
• Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it.
• Any fool can make a rule And every fool will mind it.
• Any fool can make a rule And every fool will mind it. Journals, entry for Feb. 3, 1860
• As if you could kill time without injuring eternity. "Economy"