text: who wrote the famous quote? our truest life is when we are in our dreams awake. david henry thoreau was born in concord, massachusetts, of john and cynthia thoreau.   he was named after a recently deceased paternal uncle, david thoreau. he did not change his name to "henry david" until he had graduated from harvard, although he never petitioned the government to do so officially    thoreau first contracted tuberculosis in 1835 and suffered from it sporadically over his life.[5] in 1859, following a late night excursion to count the rings of tree stumps during a rain storm, he became extremely ill. his health declined over three years with brief periods of remission, until he eventually became bedridden   our truest life is when we are in our dreams awake.  -- henry david thoreau (1817 - 1862)