Things do not change; we change.
Genuine
Yes. In Walden (1854), Conclusion.
Found word for word by program in the full text.
- Work
- Walden (Walden; or, Life in the Woods), 1854
- Where
- Conclusion
- Found at
- Paragraph 517 of the text
Researched by AI; checked by program against the full text on 31 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
On the page
[…] “Tell the tailors,” said he, “to remember to make a knot in their thread before they take the first stitch.” His companion’s prayer is forgotten.
[…] Most think that they are above being supported by the town; but it oftener happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means, which should be more disreputable. Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn the old; return to them. Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not want society. If I were confined to a corner of a garret all my days, like a spider, the world would be just as large to me while I had my thoughts about me. […]
I live in the angle of a leaden wall, into whose composition was poured a little alloy of bell metal. Often, in the repose of my mid-day, there reaches my ears a confused tintinnabulum from without. […]
Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. […]
The scene
Thoreau urges readers to meet and love their lives even when poor, comparing the light at an almshouse with that at a rich person’s home. Immediately before this sentence he advises against seeking new clothes or friends; afterward he values keeping one’s thoughts over keeping one’s clothes.
What it means
Renewing our relation to what we already have matters more than continually replacing it with something new.
Often misread
Taken as a literal denial that the external world ever changes, the sentence loses its place in an argument against restless acquisition and dependence on new influences.
Topics
Related quotes
- The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong doer. Marcus Aurelius
- Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.
- The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it. (paraphrase) Marcus Aurelius
- It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not. André Gide
- More law, less justice. Marcus Tullius Cicero
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