UPDATED with notes about the source of the quotes at end.

NATURE -- I know I'm not the only outdoorsman who's found depth and inspiration for life and nature by reading "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau, who was born 200 years ago today.

If I have a favorite Thoreau quote, it's probably the insightful:

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.

Here are a few other favorite quotes from the essayist, poet, philosopher (or at least largely attributed to him) to jog your memory or pique your interest in a man who said it well:

• It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
• As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.
• An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
• It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
• Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.
• Not all those who wander are lost.
• I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.
• None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
• The bluebird carries the sky on his back.
• Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.
• Watch for the people whose eyes light up when you talk about your dream. Those are the people you keep.
• I make myself rich by making my wants few.
• Live in each season as it passes. Breath the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.
• We need the tonic of wilderness.  We can never have enough of nature.

And finally, the Thoreau quote I have religiously tried to follow in my life, recreation and pursuit of spouse and career:

When it comes time to die, let us not discover that we have never lived.

And now, to burst the Thoreau bubble, "Walden" editor and author of "The QuoteableThoreau" Jeffrey Cramer  says only a fraction of  the quotes attributed widely to Thoreau are actually by Thoreau. Many of these quotes may have been inspired by his writings but have been honed and refined by editing over time.

Of the quotes I cited above, "Only the 4 items in bold (below) are by Thoreau and accurately (punctuation aside) quoted," he says in an email:

• Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. 
• It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
• As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.
• An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
• It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
• Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.
• Not all those who wander are lost.
• I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.
• None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
• The bluebird carries the sky on his back.
• Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.
• Watch for the people whose eyes light up when you talk about your dream. Those are the people you keep.
• I make myself rich by making my wants few.
• Live in each season as it passes. Breath the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.
• We need the tonic of wilderness.  We can never have enough of nature.
• When it comes time to die, let us not discover that we have never lived.