Walden Pond...

Walden Pond
photo by Erin Doyle

"We must learn to reawaken
and keep ourselves awake,
not by mechanical aids, but by
an infinite expectation of the dawn,
which does not forsake us
even in our soundest sleep.
I know of no more encouraging fact
than the unquestionable ability of man
to elevate his life by a conscious endeavour.
It is something to be able to
paint a particular picture,
or to carve a statue,
and so to make a few objects beautiful;
but it is far more glorious
to carve and paint the very atmosphere
and medium through which we look,
which morally we can do.
To affect the quality of the day,
that is the highest of arts."
- Henry David Thoreau