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
One day's exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Experiencing nature can provide deeper insights than theoretical knowledge.
John Muir's quote suggests that direct engagement with the natural world, particularly through the majesty of mountains, offers profound lessons and insights that cannot be matched by mere book learning. It emphasizes the value of experiential knowledge and the impact of nature on our understanding and appreciation of life.
Themes
NatureExperienceLearningMountainsWisdom
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about the importance of outdoor education.
More from John Muir
All quotes βWhen 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
Similar quotes
Consuming three planets' worth of resources when in fact we have one is the environmental equivalent of childhood obesity - eating until you make yourself sick.
David MilibandRead
In a delightful garden, sowing, planting or digging are not hardship but are done with a zeal and a certain pleasure.
Martin LutherRead
We are using resources as if we had two planets, not one. There can be no 'plan B' because there is no 'planet B.'
Ban Ki-MoonRead
We've got to somehow stabilize our connection to nature so that in 50 years from now, 500 years, 5,000 years from now there will still be a wild system and respect for what it takes to sustain us.
Sylvia EarleRead
In nature things move violently to their place, and calmly in their place.
Francis BaconRead
If nature were a bank, they would have already rescued it.
Eduardo GaleanoRead