"Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grass and gentians of glacier meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of Nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but Nature's sources never fail. … The petty discomforts that beset the awkward guest, the unskilled camper, are quickly forgotten, while all that is precious remains. Fears vanish as soon as one is fairly free in the wilderness."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Philosophers from the United StatesEssayists from the United StatesPhilosophers from ScotlandNaturalists from the United StatesEssayists from Scotland
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
John Muir
John Muir (21 April 1838 – 24 December 1914) was a Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada of California, have been read by millions. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is a prominent American conservat
172 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by John Muir →
Related Quotes
"John Muir, Earth — planet, Universe"
"We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore an…"
"Another glorious Sierra day in which one seems to be dissolved and absorbed and sent pulsing onward we know not where…"
"Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days, inciting at once to work and rest! Days in whose light everything se…"
"So extravagant is Nature with her choicest treasures, spending plant beauty as she spends sunshine, pouring it forth …"
"This time it is real — all must die, and where could mountaineer find a more glorious death!"
"A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in gl…"
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."
"Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue."
"I did find Calypso — but only once, far in the depths of the very wildest of Canadian dark woods, near those high, co…"