The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly.
Source: Walden, Economy, 1854.
-- 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.