Quotation by

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.

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Understanding this quote AI Analysis

John Burroughs means that nature shows us lessons through experience rather than directly telling us what to do or giving clear moral advice. He suggests that it’s simpler to get a physical reaction from nature, like a spark from a stone, than to find straightforward ethical guidance within it.

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And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

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I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.
All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.
And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.