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Quotes by John Burroughs

A man can get discouraged many times but he is not a failure until he begins to blame somebody else and stops trying.
– John Burroughs
A somebody was once a nobody who wanted to and did.
– John Burroughs
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
For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice - no paper currency, no promises to pay, but the gold of real service.
– John Burroughs
How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.
– John Burroughs
I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.
– John Burroughs
I seldom go into a natural history museum without feeling as if I were attending a funeral.
– 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
If we take science as our sole guide, if we accept and hold fast that alone which is verifiable, the old theology must go.
– John Burroughs
It is always easier to believe than to deny. Our minds are naturally affirmative.
– John Burroughs
Joy in the universe, and keen curiosity about it all - that has been my religion.
– John Burroughs
Leap, and the net will appear.
– John Burroughs
Life is a struggle, but not a warfare.
– John Burroughs
Nature teaches more than she preaches. There are no sermons in stones. It is easier to get a spark out of a stone than a moral.
– John Burroughs
One may summon his philosophy when they are beaten in battle, not till then.
– John Burroughs
Science has done more for the development of western civilization in one hundred years than Christianity did in eighteen hundred years.
– John Burroughs
Some men are like nails, very easily drawn; others however are more like rivets never drawn at all.
– John Burroughs
Some scenes you juggle two balls, some scenes you juggle three balls, some scenes you can juggle five balls. The key is always to speak in your own voice. Speak the truth. That's Acting 101. Then you start putting layers on top of that.
– John Burroughs
The Kingdom of Heaven is not a place, but a state of mind.
– John Burroughs
The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.
– John Burroughs
The secret of happiness is something to do.
– John Burroughs
The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention.
– John Burroughs
There is hardly a man on earth who will take advice unless he is certain that it is positively bad.
– 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
To me - old age is always ten years older than I am.
– 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.
– John Burroughs
The very idea of a bird is a symbol and a suggestion to the poet. A bird seems to be at the top of the scale, so vehement and intense his life. . . . The beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of all climes, and knowing no bounds -- how many human aspirations are realised in their free, holiday-lives -- and how many suggestions to the poet in their flight and song!
– John Burroughs
The tendinous part of the mind, so to speak, is more developed in winter; the fleshy, in summer. I should say winter had given the bone and sinew to literature, summer the tissues and the blood.
– John Burroughs
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
To treat your facts with imagination is one thing, to imagine your facts is another.
– John Burroughs
If you think you can do it, you can.
– John Burroughs
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