John Burroughs

John Burroughs

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see. The longer I live, the more my mind dwells upon the beauty and the wonder of the world."
58 Quotes
"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see. The longer I live, the more my mind dwells upon the beauty and the wonder of the world."
John Burroughs
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"The universe is so unhuman, that is, it goes its way with so little thought of man. He is but an incident, not an end. We must adjust our notions to the discovery that things are not shaped to him, but that he is shaped to them. The air was not made for his lungs, but he has lungs because there is air; the light was not created for his eye, but he has eyes because there is light. All the forces of nature are going their own way; man avails himself of them, or catches a ride as best he can. If he keeps his seat, he prospers; if he misses his hold and falls, he is crushed."
John Burroughs The Light of Day (Volume 11); Religious Discussions and Criticisms from the Naturalist's Point of View
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"I am in love with this world... I have tilled its soil, I have gathered its harvest, I have waited upon its seasons, and always have I reaped what I have sown. I have climbed its mountains, roamed its forests, sailed its waters, crossed its deserts, felt the sting of its frosts, the oppression of its heats, the drench of its rains, the fury of its winds, and always have beauty and joy waited upon my goings and comings."
John Burroughs The Summit of the Years
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"I go to books and to nature as the bee goes to a flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."
John Burroughs The Summit of the Years
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"Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world."
John Burroughs Studies in Nature and Literature
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"To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter... to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring — these are some of the rewards of the simple life."
John Burroughs Leaf and Tendril
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"Travel and society polish one, but a rolling stone gathers no moss, and a little moss is a good thing on a man."
John Burroughs
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"The dog is often quick to resent a kick, be it from man or beast, but I have never known him to show anger at the door that slammed to and hit him. Probably, if the door held him by his tail or his limb, it would quickly receive the imprint of his teeth."
John Burroughs
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"Without the name, any flower is still more or less a stranger to you. The name betrays its family, its relationship to other flowers, and gives the mind something tangible to grasp. It is very difficult for persons who have had no special training to learn the names of the flowers from the botany."
John Burroughs
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"Wisdom cannot come by railroad or automobile or aeroplane, or be hurried up by telegraph or telephone."
John Burroughs
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"The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are."
John Burroughs
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"The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention."
John Burroughs
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"If you think you can do it, you can."
John Burroughs
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"A somebody was once a nobody who wanted to and did."
John Burroughs
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"The art of the bird is to conceal its nest both as to position and as to material, but now and then it is betrayed into weaving into its structure showy and bizarre bits of this or that, which give its secret away and which seem to violate all the traditions of its kind."
John Burroughs
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"To treat your facts with imagination is one thing, to imagine your facts is another."
John Burroughs
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"He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter."
John Burroughs
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"A sap run is the sweet goodbye of winter. It is the fruit of the equal marriage of the sun and frost."
John Burroughs
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"Women are about the best lovers of nature, after all; at least of nature in her milder and more familiar forms. The feminine character, the feminine perceptions, intuitions, delicacy, sympathy, quickness, are more responsive to natural forms and influences than is the masculine mind."
John Burroughs
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"In October, a maple tree before your window lights up your room like a great lamp. Even on cloudy days, its presence helps to dispel the gloom."
John Burroughs
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