Author

John Burroughs

28 quotations

About John Burroughs

John Burroughs was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was Wake-Robin in 1871.

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Topics: Work Failure Happiness Motivational Nature Religion
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.
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.
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.
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…
Travel and society polish one, but a rolling stone gathers no moss, and a little moss is a good thing on a man.
Travel and society polish one, but a rolling stone gathers no moss, and a little moss is a good thing on a man.
Science has done more for the development of western civilization in one hundred years than Christianity did in eighteen hundred years.

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If we take science as our sole guide, if we accept and hold fast that alone which is verifiable, the old theology must go.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.
A man can get discouraged many times but he is not a failure until he begins to blame somebody else and stops trying.