John Burroughs

How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.

— John Burroughs

It is always easier to believe than to deny. Our minds are naturally affirmative.

— John Burroughs

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

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

The secret of happiness is something to do.

— John Burroughs

Life is a struggle, but not a warfare.

— John Burroughs

Some men are like nails, very easily drawn; others however are more like rivets never drawn at all.

— John Burroughs

The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.

— John Burroughs

One may summon his philosophy when they are beaten in battle, not till then.

— 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

Temperament lies behind mood; behind will, lies the fate of character. Then behind both, the influence of family the tyranny of culture; and finally the power of climate and environment; and we are free, only to the extent we rise above these.

— John Burroughs

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

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