My wife determined that my genius should prevail, and that my final success as an ornithologist should be triumphant.
John James AudubonRead
Ah! How often when I have been abroad on the mountains has my heart risen in grateful praise to God that it was not my destiny to waste and pine among those noisome congregations of the city.
Interpretation
The quote expresses gratitude for the beauty of nature over the unpleasantness of urban life.
John James Audubon reflects on his experiences in the mountains, expressing a deep sense of gratitude for being able to appreciate the natural world instead of being confined to the noise and chaos of city life. He suggests that the tranquility and beauty found in nature provide a deeper fulfillment than the distractions often found in urban environments.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about environmental conservation to emphasize the importance of nature.
My wife determined that my genius should prevail, and that my final success as an ornithologist should be triumphant.
The best recommendation I can have is my own talents, and the fruits of my own labors, and what others will not do for me, I will try and do for myself.
As I grew up I was fervently desirous of becoming acquainted with Nature.
But Hopes are Shy Birds flying at a great distance seldom reached by the best of Guns.
One day I caught four Dolphins, how much I have gazed at these beautiful creatures... as they changed their hue in twenty varieties of richest arrangement of tints.
Surrounded by all the members of my dear family, enjoying the affection of numerous friends, who have never abandoned me, and possessing a sufficient share of all that contributes to make life agreeable, I lift my grateful eyes towards the Supreme Being and feel that I am happy.
Nature is pitiless; she never withdraws her flowers, her music, her fragrance, and her sunlight from before human cruelty or suffering.
O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?
The Earth is blue... how wonderful. It is amazing
After the one extravagant gesture of creation in the first place, the universe has continued to deal exclusively in extravagances, flinging intricacies and colossi down aeons of emptiness, heaping profusions on profligacies with ever-fresh vigor. The whole show has been on fire from the word go. I come down to the water to cool my eyes. But everywhere I look I see fire; that which isn't flint is tinder, and the whole world sparks and flames.
The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; For this, for everything, we are out of tune.
I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain'd, I stand and look at them long and long.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.