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This is commonly misattributed because Thoreau wrote it in his journal June 14, 1838, but it was not original. This was a popular aphorism in his day, appearing in several collections of proverbs during his lifetime. Its origin is unknown, but it had appeared in print before his birth. E.g., in Joseph Dennie and Asbury Dickins, The Port Folio, vol.2, no.1 (July 1809), p. 431; and in Felipe Fernandez, Exercises on the rules of construction of the Spanish language, 3rd ed. (1811), p. 228. (en) |
