Three chairs

 Henry David Thoreau

Walden

Chapter 6 "Visitors"

page 112 of AMSCO LITERATURE Series

I had three chairs in

my house;

one for solitude

two for friendship

three for society.  

When visitors came in larger and 

unexpected numbers there was

but the third chair for them all,

but they generally economized the 

room by standing up.  It is 

surprising how many great men

and women a small house will

contain.  I have had 25 or 30 souls

with their bodies at one under my

roof and yet we often parted without

being aware that we had come very near 

to one another.