Have you ever needed a quote to describe something from nature? Have you heard certain lines describing a journey into nature but wanted to know where it came from? If so you probably need to look no further than John Muir. As a naturalist and conservationist John Muir was one of the most influential wilderness explorers of his time. Keep on reading to find the perfect John Muir quote to describe your journey into nature.
John Muir Quotes
Dreaming About Nature Quotes
#1 – “The mountains are calling and I must go.”
#2 – “The world’s big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark.”
#3 – “Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play and pray, where nature heals and give strength to body and soul alike.”
#4 – “Who wouldn’t be a mountaineer! Up here all the world’s prizes seem nothing”
#5 – “All the world was before me and every day was a holiday, so it did not seem important to which one of the world’s wildernesses I first should wander.”
#6 – “Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.”
Getting Ready for Nature
#7 – “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.”
#8 – “Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods. Sleep in forgetfulness of all ill.”
#9 – “Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”
#10 – “One learns that the world, though made, is yet being made; that this is still the morning of creation; that mountains long conceived are now being born, channels traced for coming rivers, basins hollowed for lakes…”
#11 – “Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.”
#12 – “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.”
Planning Your Journey into Nature
#13 – “Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”
#14 – “There is a love of wild nature in everybody, an ancient mother-love showing itself whether recognized or no, and however covered by cares and duties”
#15 – “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.”
#16 – “I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do. They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far!”
#17 – “I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news”
#18 – “Everybody needs beauty…places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike.”
#19 – “Few places in this world are more dangerous than home. Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain passes. They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action.”
Going on your Journey
#20 – “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.”
#21 – “I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”
#22 – “If for a moment you are inclined to regard these taluses as mere draggled, chaotic dumps, climb to the top of one of them, and run down without any haggling, puttering hesitation, boldly jumping from boulder to boulder with even speed. You will then find your feet playing a tune, and quickly discover the music and poetry of these magnificent rock piles — a fine lesson; and all Nature’s wildness tells the same story — the shocks and outbursts of earthquakes, volcanoes, geysers, roaring, thundering waves and floods, the silent uprush of sap in plants, storms of every sort — each and all are the orderly beauty-making love-beats of Nature’s heart.”
#23 – “And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul”
#24 – “A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease.”
#25 – “Nature is ever at work building and pulling down, creating and destroying, keeping everything whirling and flowing, allowing no rest but in rhythmical motion, chasing everything in endless song out of one beautiful form into another.”
#26 – “Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods. Here grow the wallflower and the violet. The squirrel will come and sit upon your knee, the logcock will wake you in the morning. Sleep in forgetfulness of all ill. Of all the upness accessible to mortals, there is no upness comparable to the mountains.”
Being in the Great Outdoors
#27 – “We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.”
#28 – “Another glorious Sierra day in which one seems to be dissolved and absorbed and sent pulsing onward we know not where. Life seems neither long nor short, and we take no more heed to save time or make haste than do the trees and stars. This is true freedom, a good practical sort of immortality.”
#29 – “God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fool”
#30 – “Long, blue, spiky-edged shadows crept out across the snow-fields, while a rosy glow, at first scarce discernible, gradually deepened and suffused every mountain-top, flushing the glaciers and the harsh crags above them. This was the alpenglow, to me the most impressive of all the terrestrial manifestations of God. At the touch of this divine light, the mountains seemed to kindle to a rapt, religious consciousness, and stood hushed like devout worshippers waiting to be blessed.”
Soaking up the Beauty Around You
#31 – “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 away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”
#32 – Raindrops blossom brilliantly in the rainbow, and change to flowers in the sod, but snow comes in full flower direct from the dark, frozen sky.”
#33 – “Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue.”
#34 – “The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us. Thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls, and every bird song, wind song, and tremendous storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our song, our very own, and sings our love.”
#35 – “There is not a fragment in all nature, for every relative fragment of one thing is a full harmonious unit in itself.”
#36 – “No synonym for God is so perfect as Beauty. Whether as seen carving the lines of the mountains with glaciers, or gathering matter into stars, or planning the movements of water, or gardening – still all is Beauty!”
#37 – “Fresh beauty opens one’s eyes wherever it is really seen, but the very abundance and completeness of the common beauty that besets our steps prevents its being absorbed and appreciated. It is a good thing, therefore, to make short excursions now and then to the bottom of the sea among dulse and coral, or up among the clouds on mountain-tops, or in balloons, or even to creep like worms into dark holes and caverns underground, not only to learn something of what is going on in those out-of-the-way places, but to see better what the sun sees on our return to common everyday beauty.”
#38 – “What a psalm the storm was singing, and how fresh the smell of the washed earth and leaves, and how sweet the still small voices of the storm!”
Saying Goodbye to Nature
#39 – “Going to the mountains is going home.”
#40 – “Never while anything is left of me shall this… camp be forgotten. It has fairly grown into me, not merely as memory pictures, but as part and parcel of mind and body alike.”
#41 – “Anyhow we never know where we must go, nor what guides we are to get—people, storms, guardian angels, or sheep….”
#42 – “There is a love of wild nature in everybody, an ancient mother-love showing itself whether recognized or no, and however covered by cares and duties”
#43 – “When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world.”
#44 – “Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer.”
#45 – “In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
Dreaming about the Next Time
#46 – “I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”
#47 – “As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can.”
#48 – “This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.”
#49 – “Wander a whole summer if you can…time will not be taken from the sum of your life. Instead of shortening, it will definitely lengthen it and make you truly immortal.”
#50 – “The wrongs done to trees, wrongs of every sort, are done in the darkness of ignorance and unbelief, for when the light comes, the heart of the people is always right.”
#51 – “I care to live only to entice people to look at Nature’s loveliness.”
John Muir Quote Final Thoughts
Even if you have never heard of John Muir before you read these quotes, we really hoped you enjoyed the ones we put together here. As a naturalist and conservationist, he enjoyed exploring the wilderness and then sharing his discoveries through words with others. John Muir’s words played an important role in establishing our National Parks and Monuments without them President Roosevelt might never have started conservation programs. Thank you for visiting BestTacticalFlashlights.net. Please take a look at our flashlight reviews or our flashlight buyers guides for all your flashlight needs.