We cannot well do without our sins; they are the highway of our virtue.
Source: Journals, 1906, entry for 22 Mar 1842.
-- Henry David Thoreau, (Jul 12 1817-1862), US essayist, poet, naturalist; He is best known for his description of life at Walden Pond, Walden, 1854 and his essay Civil Disobedience, 1849.