Quote

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

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

John Burroughs
Age: 83 †
Born: 1837
Born: April 3
Died: 1921
Died: March 29
Essayist
Naturalist
Writer
Delaware County
New York
Shoes
Reserves
Mothered
Respect
Worlds
Scant
Poor
Sell
Nursed
Earth
Treat
Veneration
World
Sells
Stewardship
Treats
Reserve
Senses
Mud
Environmental
Awe

More quotes by John Burroughs

Image
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
Image
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
Image
O bluebird, welcome back again, Thy azure coat and ruddy vest, Are hues that April loveth best.
John Burroughs
Image
Every walk to the woods is a religious rite, every bath in the stream is a saving ordinance. Communion service is at all hours, and the bread and wine are from the heart and marrow of Mother Earth.
John Burroughs
Image
There is an international treaty framework for this. It's the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Most countries in the world are members of the treaty.
John Burroughs
Image
The countries outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty also are bound by that obligation [ Article Six of the treaty] according to, at least it's a strong implication of, a 1996 opinion of the International Court of Justice.
John Burroughs
Image
The deeper our insight into the methods of nature . . . the more incredible the popular Christianity seems to us.
John Burroughs
Image
How readily the bluebirds become our friends and neighbors when we offer them suitable nesting retreats!
John Burroughs
Image
All sounds are sharper in winter the air transmits better. At night I hear more distinctly the steady roar of the North Mountain. In summer it is a sort of complacent purr, as the breezes stroke down its sides but in winter always the same low, sullen growl.
John Burroughs
Image
The International Court of Justice (a.k.a. World Court) is the judicial branch of the United Nations and in the early 1990's a campaign started and it was supported by civil society non-governmental groups around the world.
John Burroughs
Image
Some men are like nails, very easily drawn others however are more like rivets never drawn at all.
John Burroughs
Image
The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.
John Burroughs
Image
One may summon his philosophy when they are beaten in battle, not till then.
John Burroughs
Image
Without death and decay, how could life go on?
John Burroughs
Image
We can outrun the wind and the storm, but we cannot outrun the demon of hurry.
John Burroughs
Image
In the order of nature we may behold the ways of the Eternal.
John Burroughs
Image
Certainly in the United States, you have a constituency in the form of the weapons laboratories, and you also have the branches of the armed services that are involved with nuclear weapons deployment, especially the naval submarine operations and also the air force's land-based ICBM operations. So they have a big lobby in Washington.
John Burroughs
Image
Blessed is the man who has some congenial work, some occupation in which he can put his heart, and which affords a complete outlet to all the forces there are in him.
John Burroughs
Image
Nature will not be conquered, but gives herself freely to her true lover - to him who revels with her, bathes in her seas, sails her rivers, camps in her woods, and with no mercenary ends, accepts all.
John Burroughs
Image
Natural history is a matter of observation it is a harvest which you gather when and where you find it growing. Birds and squirrels and flowers are not always in season, but philosophy we have always with us. It is a crop which we can grow and reap at all times and in all places and it has its own value and brings its own satisfaction.
John Burroughs