Henry David Thoreau Gossip Quotations

When our life ceases to be inward and private, conversation degenerates into mere gossip.

Can we not do without the society of our gossip a little while, - have our own thoughts to cheer us?

My neighbors tell me of their adventures with famous gentlemen and ladies, what notabilities they met at the dinner-table; but I am no more interested in such things than in the contents of the Daily Times. The interest and the conversation are about costume and manners chiefly; but a goose is a goose still, dress it as you will.