Richard Jefferies
Richard Jefferies
John Richard Jefferieswas an English nature writer, noted for his depiction of English rural life in essays, books of natural history, and novels. His childhood on a small Wiltshire farm had a great influence on him and provides the background to all his major works of fiction...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth6 November 1848
affairs drift greeks human lead pulls tendency
The old Greeks dwelt on the tendency of human affairs to drift downwards irresistibly to unhappiness. Guilt - that is, untoward and often involuntary actions - pulls generation after generation heavily as lead down, down, down.
boldness courage delicate goes manner natures quite whether women
It is quite true that women like courage, and that boldness often goes a long way; but it is questionable whether with high-bred natures a subdued, quiet, and delicate manner does not go still further.
life beautiful running
O beautiful human life! Tears come to my eyes as I think of it. So beautiful, so inexpressibly beautiful! The song should never be silent, the dance never still, the laugh should sound like water which runs forever.
similar
It is easier to speak to those who have had similar experiences than to those who are as yet ignorant.
mind
It is injurious to the mind as well as to the body to be always in one place and always surrounded by the same circumstances.
body death merely visible
Look at another person while living; the soul is not visible, only the body which it animates. Therefore, merely because after death the soul is not visible is no demonstration that it does not still live.
atmosphere breath calm coming dead early falls raining soft straight
A kestrel can and does hover in the dead calm of summer days, when there is not the faintest breath of wind. He will, and does, hover in the still, soft atmosphere of early autumn, when the gossamer falls in showers, coming straight down as if it were raining silk.
despot eagerly execute hands history however matter men ready rushed saddest serve sight
No tyrant, however evil, has yet lacked ready hands to execute his most abominable will. To read how eagerly men have rushed to serve the despot is the bitterest, the saddest matter of history; it is the saddest sight in our own day.
foot human longing yearning
The heart has a yearning for the unknown, a longing to penetrate the deep shadow and the winding glade, where, as it seems, no human foot has been.
broader deeper desire hope
I desire a greatness of soul, an irradiance of mind, a deeper insight, a broader hope.
belief haunt mankind places since special
Ever since the world began, it has been the belief of mankind that desolate places are the special haunt of supernatural beings.
beauty believe human utmost
I believe in the human form; let me find something, some method, by which that form may achieve the utmost beauty.
life
Now is eternity; now is the immortal life.
beck endure people rush
There are people in this servile world who will endure any trampling, and at the first beck rush delightedly to proffer their assistance.