Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Luther Burbank (American Botanist)

Luther Burbank (1849–1926,) nicknamed the Plant Magician, was an American botanist and horticulturist whose significant contributions to agricultural science earned him a pioneering role in the development of new plant varieties.

Born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, Burbank received only a basic high school education, but was deeply influenced by the works of Charles Darwin. At the age of 21, he purchased a 17-acre tract near Lunenberg, Massachusetts, marking the beginning of a remarkable 55-year plant-breeding career. Almost immediately, he achieved success with the creation of the Burbank, or Idaho, potato, a variety widely utilized in the production of French fries. To fund his journey to California, Burbank sold the rights to the potato for $150 and settled in Santa Rosa.

In Santa Rosa, Burbank established a nursery garden, a greenhouse, and experimental farms that would gain global renown. His focus on plant breeding led to the development of over 800 new varieties, including 113 types of plums, 10 commercial berry varieties, and more than 50 varieties of lilies.

Throughout his career, Burbank extensively documented his experiments and findings. His comprehensive works, such as Luther Burbank: His Methods and Discoveries and Their Practical Application (12 vols., 1914–15) and How Plants Are Trained to Work for Man (1921,) provided valuable insights into his innovative techniques for improving crops. His autobiography, Harvest of the Years (1927.) Burbank’s birthday is celebrated as ‘Arbor Day’ in California.

More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Luther Burbank

Our lives as we lead them as passed on to others, whether in physical or mental forms, tingeing all future lives together. This should be enough for one who lives for truth and service to his fellow passengers on the way.
—Luther Burbank
Topics: Spirituality, Spirit

Heredity is nothing, but stored environment.
—Luther Burbank
Topics: Ancestry, Ancestors

Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul.
—Luther Burbank
Topics: Flowers

Life is growth-a challenge of environment. If we cannot meet our everyday surroundings with equanimity and pleasure and grow each day in some useful direction, then this splendid balance of cosmic forces which we call life is on the road toward misfortune, misery and destruction. Therefore, health is the most precious of all things.
—Luther Burbank
Topics: Time Management, Value of Time, Growth

If we had paid no more attention to our plants than we have to our children, we would now be living in a jungle of weed.
—Luther Burbank
Topics: Children

I don’t fell good.
—Luther Burbank
Topics: Last Words, Famous Last Words

Do not feed children on a maudlin sentimentalism or dogmatic religion; give them nature. Let their souls drink in all that is pure and sweet. Rear them, if possible, amid pleasant surroundings … Let nature teach them the lessons of good and proper living, combined with an abundance of well-balanced nourishment. Those children will grow to be the best men and women. Put the best in them by contact with the best outside. They will absorb it as a plant absorbs the sunshine and the dew.
—Luther Burbank
Topics: Wilderness

The greatest happiness in the world is to make others happy.
—Luther Burbank
Topics: Giving, Service, Kindness

It is well for people who think to change their minds occasionally in order to keep them clean. For those who do not think, it is best at least to rearrange their prejudices once in a while.
—Luther Burbank
Topics: Change, Mind, Prejudice, Thinking

A flower is an educated weed.
—Luther Burbank
Topics: One liners, Gardening

Nature’s law affirm instead of prohibit. If you violate her laws, you are your own prosecuting attorney, judge, jury, and hangman.
—Luther Burbank
Topics: Nature

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