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Quote by John Burroughs

“Oh, Spring is surely coming, Her couriers fill the air; Each morn are new arrivals, Each night her ways prepare; I scent her fragrant garments, Her foot is on the stair.”

Quote by John Burroughs

Book:Bird and Bough

Work

This book delves into the intricate relationship between humans and the natural world, weaving a narrative that intertwines the beauty and challenges of the environment with the complexities of human emotions and experiences. more

Author

John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American essayist and naturalist, widely regarded as the father of American nature writing. Born in Roxbury, New York, he worked as a teacher and journalist before dedicating himself to observing and writing about nature. His works, such as Wake-Robin and Winter Sunshine, are celebrated for their vivid descriptions and philosophical depth. A close friend of poet Walt Whitman, Burroughs emphasized the spiritual connection between humans and the natural world. His writings influenced early conservation movements and continue to inspire readers today. more

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“I always feel at home where the sugar maple grows.... glorious in autumn, a fountain of coolness in summer, sugar in its veins, gold in its foliage, warmth in its fibers, and health in it the year round.”

Feels Years Home Grows Summer Gold Rounds Glorious Autumn Warmth Sugar Veins Fountain Fiber Maple Coolness Foliage

Author:John Burroughs

“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.”

Source: In the Catskills Selections from the Writings of John Burroughs

“[T]he cold warms me—after a different fashion from that of the kitchen stove.”

Different Fashion Cold Weather Kitchen Cold War Stoves

Book:In the Catskills Selections from the Writings of John Burroughs

Source: In the Catskills Selections from the Writings of John Burroughs

“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.”

Ifs Knows Facts Happened Fields Crosses Woods Neighbor Tales Snow Weather Relief Mice Standing Out Walkers

Book:Winter Sunshine

Source: Winter Sunshine

“One is tempted to say that the most human plants, after all, are the weeds.”

Humans Garden Plant Weed Tempted

Book:A year in the fields: selections from the writings of John Burroughs

Source: A year in the fields: selections from the writings of John Burroughs

“The simplicity of winter has a deep moral. The return of Nature, after such a career of splendor and prodigality, to habits so simple and austere, is not lost either upon the head or the heart. It is the philosopher coming back from the banquet and the wine to a cup of water and a crust of bread.”

Heart Lost Water Simple Moral Careers Return Habit Wine Winter Simplicity Philosopher Bread Cups Coming Back Splendor Banquets Winter Days

Book:In the Catskills Selections from the Writings of John Burroughs

Source: In the Catskills Selections from the Writings of John Burroughs

“The sunbeams are welcome now. They seem like pure electricity—like friendly and recuperating lightning. Are we led to think electricity abounds only in summer, when we see in the storm-clouds as it were, the veins and ore-beds of it? I imagine it is equally abundant in winter, and more equable and better tempered. Who ever breasted a snowstorm without being excited and exhilarated, as if this meteor had come charged with latent auroræ of the North, as doubtless it has? It is like being pelted with sparks from a battery.”

Source: John Burroughs' America: Selections from the Writings of the Naturalist

“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.”

Night Sound Sides Air Mountain Summer Lows Winter Steady Strokes Breeze Complacent Transmit Sullen

Book:In the Catskills Selections from the Writings of John Burroughs

Source: In the Catskills Selections from the Writings of John Burroughs

“In the pun, two strings of thought are tangled into one acoustic knot.”

Two Strings Coincidence Knots Acoustics Tangled Pun Coincidence In Life

Author:Arthur Koestler

“What skilful limner e'er would choose To paint the rainbow's varying hues, Unless to mortal it were given To dip his brush in dyes of heaven?”

Given Heaven Paint Mortals Rainbow Brushes Dip Hue

Book:The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott, Bart

Source: The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott, Bart