Quotes from John Burroughs

Those children," he said, as he came back, "wanted to see the President of the United States, and I could not disappoint them. They may never have another chance. What a deep impression such things make when we are young!

SERENE, I fold my hands and wait, Nor care for wind, or tide, or sea; I rave no more 'gainst time or fate, For, lo! my own shall come to me.

Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world.

The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: 'To rise above little things'.

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.

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.

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.

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

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

How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.

A somebody was once a nobody who wanted to and did.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention.

To learn something new, take the path that you took yesterday.

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.

The secret of happiness is something to do

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.

The kingdom of heaven in not a place but a state of mind.