Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist, dark romantic, and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. Here are 40 Nathaniel Hawthorne quotes that are really very inspiring.
To do nothing is the way to be nothing.
– Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne Quotes
1. “There is something truer and more real, than what we can see with the eyes, and touch with the finger.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
2. “Every individual has a place to fill in the world and is important in some respect, whether he chooses to be so or not.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
3. “No summer ever came back, and no two summers ever were alike. Times change, and people change; and if our hearts do not change as readily, so much the worse for us.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
4. “Happiness is not found in things you possess, but in what you have the courage to release.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
5. “Life is made up of marble and mud.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
6. “Accuracy is the twin brother of honesty; inaccuracy, of dishonesty.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
7. “We must not always talk in the market-place of what happens to us in the forest.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
8. “She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
9. “All merely graceful attributes are usually the most evanescent.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
10. “To the untrue man, the whole universe is false–it is impalpable–it shrinks to nothing within his grasp.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
11. “A forced smile is uglier than a frown.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
12. “You can get assent to almost any proposition so long as you are not going to do anything about it.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
13. “Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
14. “If the truth were to be known, everyone would be wearing a scarlet letter of one form or another.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
15. “All brave men love; for he only is brave who has affections to fight for, whether in the daily battle of life, or in physical contests.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
16. “The thing you set your mind on is the thing you ultimately become.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
17. “A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
18. “Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
19. “I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
20. “Life is made up of marble and mud.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
21. “No summer ever came back, and no two summers ever were alike. Times change, and people change; and if our hearts do not change as readily, so much the worse for us.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
22. “Easy reading is damn hard writing.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
23. “You can get assent to almost any proposition so long as you are not going to do anything about it.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
24. “A hero cannot be a hero unless in an heroic world.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
25. “it is a curious subject of observation and inquiry, whether hatred and love be not the same thing at bottom.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
26. “A pure hand needs no glove to cover it.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
27. “Mountains are earth’s undecaying monuments.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
28. “From principles is derived probability, but truth or certainty is obtained only from facts.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
29. “Nobody has any conscience about adding to the improbabilities of a marvelous tale.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
30. “Though we speak nonsense, God will pick out the meaning of it.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
31. “It is remarkable that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
32. “Generosity is the flower of justice.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
33. “We go all wrong by too strenuous a resolution to go right.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
34. “The wrongdoing of one generation lives into the successive ones.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
35. “Moonlight is sculpture; Sunlight is painting” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
36. “Nervous and excitable persons need to talk a great deal, by way of letting off their steam” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
37. “All gloom is but a dream and a shadow… cheerfulness is the real truth” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
38. “Our most intimate friend is not he to whom we show the worst, but the best of our nature.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
39. “In the depths of every heart there is a tomb and a dungeon, though the lights, the music, and the revelry above may cause us to forget their existence.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
40. “We dream in our waking moments, and walk in our sleep.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
