Thoreau Weaves A Yarn

Having seen his industrious white neighbors so well off, - that the lawyer had only to weave arguments, and by some magic wealth and standing followed, the Indian had said to himself: I will go into business; I will weave baskets …

I too had woven a kind of basket of delicate texture, but I had not made it worth any one’s while to buy them.

Up comes the cotton, down goes the woven cloth; up comes the silk, down goes the woollen; up come the books, but down goes the wit that writes them. A woman's dress, at least, is never done.