The mountains are fountains of men as well as of rivers, of glaciers, of fertile soil. The great poets, philosophers, prophets, able men whose thought and deeds have moved the world, have come down from the mountains.
—John Muir (1838–1914) Scottish-born American Naturalist
All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Nature has perfections, in order to show that she is the image of God; and defects, to show that she is only his image.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
To him whom contemplates a trait of natural beauty, no harm nor despair can come. The doctrines of despair, spiritual or political servitude, were never taught by those who shared the serenity of Nature. For each phase of Nature, though not invisible, is yet not too distinct or obtrusive. It is there to be found when we look for it, but not too demanding of our attention.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Men argue, nature acts.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Nature, like us is sometimes caught without her diadem.
—Emily Dickinson (1830–86) American Poet
Don’t try to be spiritual. That is only a word in the dictionary. Make it your goal to become a normally functioning individual. Let these principles shape you according to your real nature of a simple, decent, honest, unafraid human being.
—Vernon Howard (1918–92) American Spiritual Teacher, Philosopher
All nature is but art, unknown to thee; all chance, direction which thou canst net see; all discord, harmony not understood; all partial evil, universal good.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
I remember an answer which when quite young I was prompted to make to a valued adviser, who was wont to importune me with the dear old doctrines of the church. On my saying, What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within? my friend suggested, — “But these impulses may be from below, not from above”. I replied, “They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil’s child, I will live then from the Devil”. No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
It is really true what philosophy tells us, that life must be understood backwards. But with this, one forgets the second proposition, that it must be lived forwards.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
Colors are the smiles of nature.
—Leigh Hunt (1784–1859) British Poet, Essayist, Journalist
Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
A man who lives with nature is used to violence and is companionable with death. There is more violence in an English hedgerow than in the meanest streets of a great city.
—P. D. James (b.1920) British Novelist
The experiences of camp life show that a man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way. The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity—even in the most difficult circumstances—to add a deeper meaning to life.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist
Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.
—John Lennon (1940–80) British Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Activist
In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments—there are consequences.
—Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–99) American Lawyer, Orator, Agnostic
The aim of life is self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly — that is what each of us is here for.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
All that live must die, passing through nature to eternity.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
A beautiful young lady is an act of nature. A beautiful old lady is a work of art.
—Louis Nizer (1902–1994) American Lawyer, Author
Nature is the master of talents; genius is the master of nature.
—Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819–81) American Editor, Novelist
Nature, who for the perfect maintenance of the laws of her general equilibrium, has sometimes need of vices and sometimes of virtues, inspires now this impulse, now that one, in accordance with what she requires.
—Marquis de Sade (1740–1814) French Political leader, Revolutionary, Novelist, Poet, Critic
When it comes to my own turn to lay my weapons down, I shall do so with thankfulness and fatigue, and whatever be my destiny afterward, I shall be glad to lie down with my fathers in honor. It is human at least, if not divine.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
We shrink from change; yet is there anything that can come into being without it? What does Nature hold dearer, or more proper to herself? Could you have a hot bath unless the firewood underwent some change.. is it possible for any useful thing to be achieved without change? Do you not see, then, that change in yourself is of the same order, and no less necessary to Nature?
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
Touching the earth equates to having harmony with nature.
—American Indian Proverb
The law of nature is the strictest expression of necessity.
—Unknown
Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
The ignorant man marvels at the exceptional; the wise man marvels at the common; the greatest wonder of all is the regularity of nature.
—George Boardman the Younger (1801–31) American Baptist Minister
The poor dog, in life the firmest friend. The first to welcome, foremost to defend.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
The fear of death often proves mortal, and sets people on methods, to save their lives, which infallibly destroy them. This is a reflection made upon observing that there are more thousands killed in a flight, than in a battle; and may be applied to those multitudes of imaginary sick persons that break their constitutions by physic, and throw themselves into the arms of death, by endeavoring to escape it.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
The sun will set without thy assistance.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Joy is one of nature’s greatest medicines. Joy is always healthy. A pleasant state of mind tends to bring abnormal conditions back to normal.
—Catherine Ponder (b.1927) American Clergywoman
Nature cares nothing for logic, our human logic: she has her own, which we do not recognize and do not acknowledge until we are crushed under its wheel
—Ivan Turgenev (1818–83) Russian Novelist, Playwright
Joy, rather than happiness, is the goal of life, for joy is the emotion which accompanies our fulfilling our natures as human beings. It is based on the experience of one’s identity as a being of worth and dignity.
—Rollo May (1909–94) American Philosopher
The acorn becomes an oak by means of automatic growth; no commitment is necessary. The kitten similarly becomes a cat on the basis of instinct. Nature and being are identical in creatures like them. But a man or woman becomes fully human only by his or her choices and his or her commitment to them. People attain worth and dignity by the multitude of decisions they make from day by day. These decisions require courage.
—Rollo May (1909–94) American Philosopher
The laws of nature are but the thoughts and agencies of God—the modes in which he works and carries out the designs of his providence and will.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
Nature is a frugal mother, and never gives without measure. When she has work to do, she qualifies men for that and sends them equipped.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Nature is full of infinite causes that have never occurred in experience.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
Nature is our mother.
—Latin Proverb
There can be no very black misery to him who lives in the midst of Nature and has his senses still.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
It is almost systematically to constitute a natural moral law. Nature has no principles. She furnishes us with no reason to believe that human life is to be respected. Nature, in her indifference, makes no difference between right and wrong.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
Nature is a labyrinth in which the very haste you move with will make you lose your way.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
When a man moves from nature, his heart becomes hard.
—American Indian Proverb
After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on—have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear—what remains? Nature remains.
—Walt Whitman (1819–92) American Poet, Essayist, Journalist, American, Poet, Essayist, Journalist
Will this massive outcry (about pollution) continue long enough to have effective results? Will federal and state laws be enacted with effective enforcement clauses? Will people be concerned long enough to pay the bill through higher prices? Will towns tolerate lost jobs when it proves too costly to clean obsolete plants?.. I think so, but it sure won’t be as easy as the present outcry and political oratory suggest. The answers to preserving a livable environment are not all simple, and some of the nuts now pushing simplistic cure-alls won’t help bring about any lasting solutions.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
The source of all life and knowledge is in man and woman, and the source of all living is in the interchange and the meeting and mingling of these two: man-life and woman-life, man-knowledge and woman-knowledge, man-being and woman-being.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
The “control of nature” is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of biology and the convenience of man.
—Rachel Carson (1907–64) American Naturalist, Science Writer
I think the worst woman that ever existed would have made a man of very passable reputation—they are all better than us and their faults such as they are must originate with ourselves.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Only nature knows how to justly proportion to the fault the punishment it deserves.
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) English Poet, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist
Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
Everything in nature contains all the powers of nature. Every thing is made of one hidden stuff.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher