Liberty Worth Having

How watchful we must be to keep the crystal well that we were made, clear! - that it not be made turbid by our contact with the world, so that it will not reflect objects. What other liberty is there worth having, if we have not freedom and peace in our minds - if our inmost and most private man is but a sour and turbid pool? If you would avoid uncleanness and all the sins, work earnestly, though it be at cleaning a stable.

- Henry David Thoreau