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.
John MuirRead
I suppose we need not go mourning the buffaloes. In the nature of things, they had to give place to better cattle, though the change might have been made without barbarous wickedness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the inevitability of change in nature and progress, suggesting acceptance instead of mourning for what is lost.
In this quote, John Muir acknowledges that the extinction of buffaloes and the rise of more suitable cattle are natural occurrences in the cycle of life. He implies that while change can often be harsh and accompanied by wrongdoing, it is a necessary part of evolution and progress. Rather than lamenting the loss of the buffaloes, one should recognize the inevitability of change and the evolution of species in response to the environment.
Themes
ChangeNatureEvolutionProgressLoss
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about environmental conservation, one might quote Muir to emphasize the importance of accepting changes in nature.
More from John Muir
All quotes →When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.
John MuirRead
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".
John MuirRead
The forests of America, however slighted by man, must have been a great delight to God; for they were the best he ever planted. The whole continent was a garden, and from the beginning, it seemed to be favored above all the other wild parks and gardens of the globe.
John MuirRead
From the dust of the earth, from the common elementary fund, the Creator has made Homo sapiens. From the same material he has made every other creature, however noxious and insignificant to us. They are earth-born companions and our fellow mortals.
John MuirRead
...full of God's thoughts, a place of peace and safety amid the most exalted grandeur and enthusiastic action, a new song, a place of beginnings abounding in first lessons of life, mountain building, eternal, invincible, unbreakable order; with sermons in stone, storms, trees, flowers, and animals brimful with humanity.
John MuirRead
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