# The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, 1837-1861 ![[Assets/a64db2c20e986daae44f82193fa21c9e_MD5.jpg]] ## Metadata - Author: [[Henry David Thoreau, Damion Searls, and John R. Stilgoe]] - Full Title: The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, 1837-1861 - Category: #books ## Highlights - Journalizing is not journalism but “a distinct profession” rescuing details and truths from oblivion. “Contemplation of the unfinished picture may suggest its harmonious completion,” every thought “a nest egg” a long time from hatching. “Thoughts accidentally thrown together become a frame in which more may be developed and exhibited. Perhaps this is the main value of a habit of writing, of keeping a journal,—that so we remember our best hours and stimulate ourselves.” ([Location 63](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004J4WM18&location=63)) - Perhaps this is the main value of a habit of writing, of keeping a journal.... Having by chance recorded a few disconnected thoughts and then brought them into juxtaposition, they suggest a whole new field in which it was possible to labor and to think. Thought begat thought. (January 22, 1852) ([Location 184](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004J4WM18&location=184))