1
Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world.John Burroughs
2
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.John Burroughs
3
The secret of happiness is something to doJohn Burroughs
4
One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: ‘To rise above little things’.John Burroughs
5
To learn something new, take the path that you took yesterday.John Burroughs
6
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
7
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
8
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
9
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
10
Nature we have always with us, an in exhaustible store-house of that which moves the heart, appeals to the mind and fires the imagination -- health to the body, a stimulus to the intellect, and joy to the soul.John Burroughs
11
Summer is more wooing and seductive, more versatile and human, appeals to the affections and the sentiments, and fosters inquiry and the art impulse. Winter is of a more heroic cast, and addresses the intellect. The severe studies and disciplines come easier in winter. One imposes larger tasks upon himself, and is less tolerant of his own weaknesses.. The simplicity of winter has a deep moral. The return of nature, after such a career of splendor and prodigality, to habits so simple and austere, is not lost either upon the head or the heart. It is the philosopher coming back from the banquet and the wine to a cup of water and a crust of bread. .John Burroughs
12
You can fail many times, but you're not a failure until you begin to blame somebody else.John Burroughs
13
Man takes root at his feet, and at best he is no more than a potted plant in his house or carriage till he has established communication with the soil by the loving and magnetic touch of his soles to it.John Burroughs
14
The kingdom of heaven in not a place but a state of mind.John Burroughs
15
How beautifully the leaves grow old. How full of light and colour are their last days.John Burroughs
16
Serene I fold my hands and wait.John Burroughs
17
Happiness comes most to persons who seek it least and think least about it. It is not an object to be sought it is a state to be induced. It must follow and not lead. It must overtake you and not you overtake it.John Burroughs
18
Few persons realize how much of their happiness such as it is is dependent upon their work.John Burroughs
19
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.John Burroughs
20
I was born with a chronic anxiety about the weather.John Burroughs
21
A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.John Burroughs
22
A man can get discouraged many times but he is not a failure until he begins to blame somebody else and stops trying.John Burroughs
23
England is like the margin of a spring-run: near its source, always green, always cool, always moist, comparatively free from frost in winter and from drought in summer.John Burroughs
24
Man takes root at his feet, and at best, he is no more than a potted plant in his house or carriage till he has established communication with the soil by the loving and magnetic touch of his soles to it.John Burroughs
25
The Infinite cannot be measured. The plan of Nature is so immense, but she has no plan, no scheme, but to go on and on forever. What is size, what is time, distance, to the Infinite? Nothing. The Infinite knows no time, no space, no great, no small, no beginning, no end.John Burroughs
26
I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.John Burroughs
27
How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.John Burroughs
28
Nature teaches more than she preaches. There are no sermons in stones. It is easier to get a spark out of a stone than a moral.John Burroughs
29
When a herd of cattle see a strange object, they are not satisfied till each one has sniffed it; and the horse is cured of his fright at the robe, or the meal-bag, or other object, as soon as he can be induced to smell it. There is a great deal of speculation in the eye of an animal, but very little science.John Burroughs
30
The spirit of man can endure only so much and when it is broken only a miracle can mend it.John Burroughs
31
For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice - no paper currency, no promises to pay, but the gold of real service.John Burroughs
32
The common bees will never use their sting upon the queen; if she is to be disposed of, they starve her to death, and the queen herself will sting nothing but royalty, nothing but a rival queen.John Burroughs
33
I have discovered the secret of happiness - it is work, either with the hands or the head. The moment I have something to do, the draughts are open and my chimney draws, and I am happy.John Burroughs
34
The secret of happiness is something to do.John Burroughs
35
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
36
Birds and animals probably think without knowing that they think; that is, they have not self-consciousness. Only man seems to be endowed with this faculty; he alone develops disinterested intelligence, intelligence that is not primarily concerned with his own safety and well-being but that looks abroad upon things.John Burroughs
37
Fear, love, and hunger were the agents that developed the wits of the lower animals, as they were, of course, the prime factors in developing the intelligence of man.John Burroughs
38
When the woodpecker is searching for food, or laying siege to some hidden grub, the sound of his hammer is dead or muffled and is heard but a few yards. It is only upon dry, seasoned timber, freed of its bark, that he beats his reveille to spring and wooes his mate.John Burroughs
39
The animal world seizes its food in masses little and big, and often gorges itself with it, but the vegetable, through the agency of the solvent power of water, absorbs its nourishment molecule by molecule.John Burroughs
40
The Kingdom of Heaven is not a place, but a state of mind.John Burroughs
41
Without the emotion of the beautiful, the sublime, the mysterious, there is no art, no religion, no literature.John Burroughs
42
I seldom go into a natural history museum without feeling as if I were attending a funeral.John Burroughs
43
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
44
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
45
A sap run is the sweet goodbye of winter. It is the fruit of the equal marriage of the sun and frost.John Burroughs
46
He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter.John Burroughs
47
To treat your facts with imagination is one thing, to imagine your facts is another.John Burroughs
48
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
49
If you think you can do it, you can.John Burroughs
50
A somebody was once a nobody who wanted to and did.John Burroughs
51
The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention.John Burroughs
52
The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.John Burroughs
53
Wisdom cannot come by railroad or automobile or aeroplane, or be hurried up by telegraph or telephone.John Burroughs
54
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
55
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
56
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