John Burroughs > Quotes

“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

“The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.”
― John Burroughs

“One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: ‘To rise above little things’.”
― 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.”
― John Burroughs

“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

“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.”
― John Burroughs

“If I were to name the three most precious resources of life, I should say books, friends, and nature....”
― John Burroughs

“A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.”
― John Burroughs

“How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.”
― John Burroughs

“Leap and the net will appear”
― John Burroughs

“A somebody was once a nobody who wanted to and did.”
― John Burroughs

“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

“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

“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

“For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice.”
― John Burroughs

“Look underfoot. You are always nearer to the true sources of your power than you think. The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are. Don't despise your own place and hour. Every place is the center of the world.”
― John Burroughs

“The lesson which life constantly repeats is to 'look under your feet.'
You are always nearer to the divine and the true sources of your power than you think.
The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive.
The great opportunity is where you are.
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

“You can get discouraged many times, but you are not a failure until you begin to blame somebody else and stop trying.”
― John Burroughs

“The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention.”
― John Burroughs

“To learn something new, take the path that you took yesterday.”
― 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.”
― John Burroughs

“The secret of happiness is something to do”
― John Burroughs

“The kingdom of heaven in not a place but a state of mind.”
― John Burroughs

“The lesson which life repeats and constantly enforces is 'look under foot.' You are always nearer the divine and the true sources of your power than you think.
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― John Burroughs

“It is always easier to believe than to deny. Our minds are naturally affirmative”
― John Burroughs

“You can fail many times, but you're not a failure until you begin to blame somebody else.”
― John Burroughs

“Love sharpens the eye, the ear, the touch; it quickens the feet, it steadies the hand, it arms against the wet and the cold.
What we love to do, that we do well.
To know is not all; it is only half.
To love is the other half”
― John Burroughs, Leaf and Tendril

“I have loved the feel of the grass under my feet, and the sound of the running streams by my side. The hum of the wind in the tree-tops has always been good music to me, and the face of the fields has often comforted me more than the faces of men.”
― John Burroughs, The Summit of the Years

“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

“Go to the sea or climb the mountain, and with the ruggedest and the savagest you will find likewise the fairest and the most delicate. The greatness and the minuteness of nature pass all understanding.”
― John Burroughs, In the Catskills Selections from the Writings of John Burroughs