John Burroughs
John Burroughs
John Burroughswas an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the U.S. conservation movement. The first of his essay collections was Wake-Robin in 1871...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth3 April 1837
CountryUnited States of America
John Burroughs quotes about
fun work blessed
Blessed is the man who has some congenial work, some occupation in which he can put his heart, and which affords a complete outlet to all the forces there are in him.
real eye play
In the printed page the only real things are the paper and the ink; the white spaces play the same part in aiding the eye to take in the meaning of the print as do the black letters.
stars sadness science
IT is reported of Margaret Fuller that she said she accepted the universe. "Gad, she'd better!" retorted Carlyle. Carlyle himself did not accept the universe in a very whole-hearted manner. Looking up at the midnight stars, he exclaimed: "A sad spectacle! If they be inhabited, what a scope for misery and folly; if they be not inhabited, what a waste of space!"
twilight hymns solitude
Mounting toward the upland again, I pause reverently, as the hush and stillness of twilight come upon the woods. It is the sweetest, ripest hour of the day. And as the hermit's evening hymn goes up from the deep solitude below me, I experience that serene exaltation of sentiment of which music, literature, and religion are but the faint types and symbols.
philosophy flower squirrels
Natural history is a matter of observation; it is a harvest which you gather when and where you find it growing. Birds and squirrels and flowers are not always in season, but philosophy we have always with us. It is a crop which we can grow and reap at all times and in all places and it has its own value and brings its own satisfaction.
war lying rocks
The rocks have a history; gray and weatherworn, they are veterans of many battles; they have most of them marched in the ranks of vast stone brigades during the ice age; they have been torn from the hills, recruited from the mountaintops, and marshaled on the plains and in the valleys; and now the elemental war is over, there they lie waging a gentle but incessant warfare with time and slowly, oh, so slowly, yielding to its attacks!
atheist men world
Man is, and always has been, a maker of gods. It has been the most serious and significant occupation of his sojourn in the world.
museums funeral feelings
I seldom go into a natural history museum without feeling as if I were attending a funeral.
men nails literature
Some men are like nails, very easily drawn; others however are more like rivets never drawn at all.
philosophy philosophical battle
One may summon his philosophy when they are beaten in battle, not till then.
vision tiny lamps
Now is the time of the illuminated woods ... when every leaf glows like a tiny lamp.
literature accepting sole
If we take science as our sole guide, if we accept and hold fast that alone which is verifiable, the old theology must go.
beautiful song nature
The very idea of a bird is a symbol and a suggestion to the poet. A bird seems to be at the top of the scale, so vehement and intense his life. . . . The beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of all climes, and knowing no bounds - how many human aspirations are realised in their free, holiday-lives - and how many suggestions to the poet in their flight and song!
thinking-of-you retirement short-life
I still find each day too short..