A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. John Burroughs Failure
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 Failure
The art of the bird is to conceal its nest both as to position and as to material, but now and then it is betrayed into weaving into its structure showy and bizarre bits of this or that, which give its secret away and which seem to violate all the traditions of its kind. John Burroughs Art
He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter. John Burroughs Beauty
England is like the margin of a spring-run: near its source, always green, always cool, always moist, comparatively free from frost in winter and from drought in summer. John Burroughs Cool
The Infinite cannot be measured. The plan of Nature is so immense, but she has no plan, no scheme, but to go on and on forever. What is size, what is time, distance, to the Infinite? Nothing. The Infinite knows no time, no space, no great, no small, no beginning, no end. John Burroughs Space
When the woodpecker is searching for food, or laying siege to some hidden grub, the sound of his hammer is dead or muffled and is heard but a few yards. It is only upon dry, seasoned timber, freed of its bark, that he beats his reveille to spring and wooes his mate. John Burroughs Food
Fear, love, and hunger were the agents that developed the wits of the lower animals, as they were, of course, the prime factors in developing the intelligence of man. John Burroughs Intelligence
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 Society
The animal world seizes its food in masses little and big, and often gorges itself with it, but the vegetable, through the agency of the solvent power of water, absorbs its nourishment molecule by molecule. John Burroughs Food
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 Travel
Wisdom cannot come by railroad or automobile or aeroplane, or be hurried up by telegraph or telephone. John Burroughs Wisdom
Women are about the best lovers of nature, after all; at least of nature in her milder and more familiar forms. The feminine character, the feminine perceptions, intuitions, delicacy, sympathy, quickness, are more responsive to natural forms and influences than is the masculine mind. John Burroughs Sympathy
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 Nature
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 Happiness