How we cite our quotes: (Essay.Paragraph)
Quote #7
We should be blessed if we lived in the present always, and took advantage of every accident that befell us […] and did not spend our days in atoning for the neglect of past opportunities, which we call our duty. We loiter in winter while it is already spring. In a pleasant spring morning, all men's sins are forgiven. (Spring.19)
Spring isn't just a season, for Thoreau. It's a state of mind – a Walden state of mind.
Quote #8
I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. (Conclusion.5)
In the last chapter, Thoreau is much more explicit about what his readers can take away from his personal experiment. For this reason, we get the sense that we're not reading just an autobiography, but also a kind of manual for living.