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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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John Burroughs
Age: 83 †
Born: 1837
Born: April 3
Died: 1921
Died: March 29
Essayist
Naturalist
Writer
Delaware County
New York
Hype
Distant
Humor
Opportunity
Difficult
Inspirational
Great
Deceptive
Lure

More quotes by John Burroughs

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It is always easier to believe than to deny. Our minds are naturally affirmative.
John Burroughs
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Science has done more for the development of western civilization in one hundred years than Christianity did in eighteen hundred years.
John Burroughs
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A somebody was once a nobody who wanted to and did.
John Burroughs
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I still find each day too short.
John Burroughs
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In the order of nature we may behold the ways of the Eternal.
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The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention.
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Look up at the miracle of the falling snow,—the air a dizzy maze of whirling, eddying flakes, noiselessly transforming the world, the exquisite crystals dropping in ditch and gutter, and disguising in the same suit of spotless livery all objects upon which they fall.
John Burroughs
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The budget for nuclear forces in the United States is on the order of $25 billion or so. That includes warheads, delivery systems, command and control does not include environmental clean-up, which is another maybe $10 billion or so. So that's about 5% of the U.S. military budget.
John Burroughs
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The secret of happiness is something to do.
John Burroughs
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[T]he cold warms me—after a different fashion from that of the kitchen stove.
John Burroughs
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The deeper our insight into the methods of nature . . . the more incredible the popular Christianity seems to us.
John Burroughs
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I think rain is as necessary to the mind as to vegetation. My very thoughts become thirsty, and crave the moisture.
John Burroughs
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In 2002 the [George] Bush administration effectively put an end to negotiations of an agreement which would have established inspection procedures to ensure or to monitor compliance with the existing legal ban on biological weapons.
John Burroughs
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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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In New York and New England the sap starts up in the sugar maple the very day the bluebird arrives, and sugar-making begins forthwith. The bird is generally a mere disembodied voice a rumor in the air for two or three days before it takes visible shape before you.
John Burroughs
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Nature exists for man no more than she does for monkeys, and is as regardless of his life or pleasure or success as she is of the fleas. Her waves will drown him, her fire burn him, and her earth devour him, her storms and lightning smite him, as if he were only a dog.
John Burroughs
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I am in love with this world . . . 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
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The place to observe nature is where you are.
John Burroughs
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How readily the bluebirds become our friends and neighbors when we offer them suitable nesting retreats!
John Burroughs
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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