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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.

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
World
Makers
Occupation
Atheist
Gods
Significant
Serious
Always
Sojourn
Men
Maker

More quotes by 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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Few persons realize how much of their happiness is dependent upon their work, upon the fact that they are busy and not left to feed upon themselves. Blessed is the person who has some congenial work, some occupation in which to place one's heart, and which affords a complete outlet to all the forces that are in him or her.
John Burroughs
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The floating vapour is just as true an illustration of the law of gravity as the falling avalanche.
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The God of the Puritans...was a monster too horrible to contemplate.
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The longer I live, the more my mind dwells upon the beauty and the wonder of the world.
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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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Temperament lies behind mood behind will, lies the fate of character. Then behind both, the influence of family the tyranny of culture and finally the power of climate and environment and we are free, only to the extent we rise above these.
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One can return to their place of birth, but one cannot go back to your youth.
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We have produced some good walkers and saunterers, and some noted climbers but as a staple recreation, as a daily practice, the mass of the people dislike and despise walking.
John Burroughs
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How much there is in books that one does not want to know, that it would be a mere weariness and burden to the spirit to know.
John Burroughs
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You cannot use [nuclear weapons] to target civilians you cannot use them against military targets if they have indiscriminate effects on civilians in addition to the attack on the military target.
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Life is a struggle, but not a warfare.
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In what bold relief stand out the lives of all walkers of the snow! The snow is a great tell-tale, and blabs as effectually as it obliterates. I go into the woods, and know all that has happened. I cross the fields, and if only a mouse has visited his neighbor, the fact is chronicled.
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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There is a condition or circumstance that has a greater bearing upon the happiness of life than any other. What is it? Something to do some congenial work. Take away the occupation of all people and what a wretched world it would be.
John Burroughs
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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.
John Burroughs
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The poor old earth which has mothered us and nursed us we treat with scant respect. Our awe and veneration we reserve for the worlds we know not of. Our senses sell us out. The mud on our shoes disenchants us.
John Burroughs
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One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: ‘To rise above little things’.
John Burroughs
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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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The overall quantity of nuclear weapons in the world continues to decline slowly.
John Burroughs