On John Burroughs an American Naturalist and Essayist



Photography by Maxie



 

John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 - March 29, 1921)

The complete writings of John Burroughs totals 23 volumes.  He was an American naturalist and essayist and important in the evolution of our countries conservation movement.  Considered, by some, less of a scientific naturalist and more of a literary naturalist.  Burroughs writings reflected his own unique perceptions of the natural world.

The following are some of the quotes of 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

"The spirit of man can endure only so much and when it is broken only a miracle can mend it."

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

John Burroughs

"A man can get discouraged many times but his is not a failure until he begins to blame somebody else and stops trying."

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 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

"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

"If you think you can do it, you can."

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

"To me - old age is always ten years older than I am."

John Burroughs

"To treat you facts with imagination is one thing, to imagine you facts is another."

John Burroughs

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

John Burroughs

"Life is a struggle, but not a warfare."

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

GOLDEN RULES FOR EASIER LIVING

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MAXIE

GOLDEN RULES FOR EASIER LIVING

 1.  IF YOU OPEN IT, CLOSE IT.

 2.  IF YOU TURN IT ON, TURN IT OFF.

 3.  IF YOU UNLOCK IT, LOCK IT UP.

 4.  IF YOU BREAK IT, ADMIT IT.

 5.  IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT, CALL IN SOMEONE WHO CAN.

 6.  IF YOU BORROW IT, RETURN IT.

 7.  IF YOU VALUE IT, TAKE CARE OF IT.

 8.  IF YOU MAKE A MESS, CLEAN IT UP.

 9.  IF YOU MOVE IT, PUT IT BACK.

10.  IF IT BELONGS TO SOMEONE ELSE AND YOU WANT TO USE IT, GET PERMISSION.

11.  IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO OPERATE IT, LEAVE IT ALONE.

12.  IF IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, DON'T ASK QUESTIONS.

13.  IF IT ISN'T BROKEN, DON'T FIX IT.

14.  IF IT WILL BRIGHTEN SOME ONE'S DAY...SAY IT !

 



The Story of the Butterfly

A man found the cocoon of a butterfly.

One day a small opening appeared.

The man sat and watched the butterfly for several hours

as it struggled to force its body through the tiny hole.

Then it stopped, as if it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly.

He took a pair of scissors and

snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon.

The butterfly emerged easily, but

it had a swollen body and shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch it and

expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge

and expand enough to support the body.

Neither happened!

In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life

crawling around.

It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness

and hast had not understood was

that the restricting cocoon and the struggle,

required by the butterfly to get through the opening,

was a way of forcing the fluid from the body

into the wings so that it would be ready

for flight once that freedom was achieved.

So it is with us.

Sometimes struggles are exactly

what we need in our lives.

Going through life with no obstacles

 would robe us of becoming strong and, perhaps, realizing our life's potential.

It's the struggles in life that make us appreciate our successes.

Author Unknown

Why we are so in love with the game of golf.

Golf is a science, the study of a lifetime,

in which you may exhaust yourself but never your subject.

It is a contest, a duel or a melee, calling for skill, courage,

strategy and self control.

It is a test of temper, a trial of honor, a revealer of character.

It affords a chance to play the man and act the gentleman.

It means going into God's out of doors, getting close to nature, fresh air, exercise,

a sweeping away of mental cobwebs, genius recreation of tired tissues.

It is a cure for care, an antidote to worry.

It includes companionship with friends, social intercourse,

 opportunities for courtesy, kindness and generosity to an opponent.

It promotes not only physical health, but moral force.

David R. Forgan 1899

The Golden Years

You know you are growing older when:

You have more gold in your teeth, if you have teeth, than you do in the bank.

Everything hurts, and what doesn't hurt doesn't work.

The gleam in your eyes is from the sun hitting your bifocals.

You feel like the night before and you haven't been anywhere.

Your little black book contains only names ending in M.D.

You get winded waiting for your Netflix DVD to load.

Your nephew begins to gray.

You join a health club every January and then don't go.

You begin to out live enthusiasm.

Your mind makes contracts your body can't meet.

You know all the answers, but nobody ask you the questions.

You start looking forward to a dull evening.

Your favorite part of the newspaper is "25 Years Ago Today"...if you even read a newspaper.

You sit in a rocking chair and can't get it going.

Your knees buckle and your belt won't

Your back goes out more than you do.

A fortuneteller offers to read you face.

You burn the midnight oil after 9:00 p.m.

You sink your teeth into a steak and they stay there.

You're 17 inches around the neck and 42 inches around your waist.

You celebrate you birthday on Ground Hog Day because you have forgotten when it is.

Pushing all the buttons on the unprogramed phone, your kids gave you for Christmas, wears you out.

You turn out the lights for economic reasons rather than romantic ones.

You remember today that yesterday was the last day to renew your license.

You are startled the first time a person addressed you as "Old Timer".

Your pacemaker makes the garage door go up when an attractive woman walks by.

You get your exercise acting as a pallbearer for your friends who have exercised.

You have too much room in your house and not enough room in the medicine cabinet.

You climb into bed for a night of making love and realize you don't have your dentures in.

The best part of your day is over when your alarm clock goes off.

Author Unknown

Look for the lesson and move on.

Photography by Maxie

You simply cannot pay anyone back for something they did to you.  Look for the lesson and move on.  If one man or woman treats you badly, rejects you, abandons you, abuses or disrespects you, you cannot hold all men or women accountable. Look for the lesson and move on.
If your ex-wife or husband took your money, lied to you, neglected your children and your home, it does not mean that all men and women cannot be trusted. Look for the lesson and move on.  If some white people are racist; some black people thieves; some intellectual people condescending; some uneducated people lazy; some light people uppity; some dark people ignorant; it does not give you the right or the authority to treat all people any way you choose, based on your past experiences.  Ask yourself, what can I learn from this situation?  What can I do this time that I did not do before?  If there is nothing, simply move on.

Author Unknown

THE LIGHTER SIDE OF A TREATABLE DISEASE

 1.  If you're really co-dependent, don't worry.  The disease is very patient.  It will wait until you're sick and tired of   being sick and tired.

 2.  Keep doing what you're doing and you'll keep getting what you're getting.  Trust the process.

You'll drop to your knees sooner or later.

 3.  If someone tries to put a label on you as co-dependent, ignore him or her.  Why should you be deprived on the opportunity to find out for yourself?

 4.  If control is your game, then control is your name...out of control, that is.

 5.  If you're in an unhealthy relationship where you find yourself giving and giving and they're taking and taking...hang on.  You haven't seen anything yet.  You'll need to give more just to keep that sick feeling churning in the pit of your stomach.  Remember, you need to feel sick.

 6.  If you keep finding yourself in lose-lose relationships, cheer up.  You'll keep getting the same homework until you get the lesson right.  Get a divorce...get a couple of divorces.  That's a sure way to get the monkey off your back, for the time being.

 7.  A co-dependent's best thinking can screw up a two-car funeral.  Get some help.  Get honest with another human being so you can see yourself.  An interesting thing happens when you get honest with someone else...things get better.

 8.  If you have the gnawing feeling that he or she might straighten up and get off your back so you can get on with your life...well, forget it!  They aren't that powerful to give you peace of mind.


 9.  God must certainly have a sense of humor.  Who else would hide himself in the last place you would look...within yourself.  Happiness is an inside job.  If you are not happy with your own insides, you are in for a long haul looking outside of self to people, place or things in order to get comfortable.


10.  People are attracted to recovery.  No one is going to be able to get by promoting it to you.  It doesn't work that way.  It's sort of like catching spring fever...you catch it or you don't.  If you sit still long enough, you'll catch it.  What comes by you won't go by you.


11.  Know thyself, says a Greek philosopher.  If you don't know yourself, who is going to be able to tell you exactly who you exactly are?  Have the humility (teach ability) to be yourself before yourself and another human being and you will be on the "high road to recovery".


12.  Co-dependents like the softer, easier way.  We want what we what when we want it...NOW!


13.  Ever get the sensation of walking off a cliff backward?  That's the sensation you'll need to have prior to getting on with recovery.


14.  Recovery is for hopeless people.  Only hopeless people are sufficiently motivated enough to take actions that are contrary to the nature of people like them.


15.  Until you become helpless and hopeless, you are never going to do anything about your disease.  Only thoroughly hopeless people will ever take the steps in recovery.


16.  Bottom is not a place...it is a feeling that we can't live like this anymore.


Author unknown.

Photography by Maxie