When nature made the blue-bird she wished to propitiate both the sky and the earth, so she gave him the color of the one on his back and the hue of the other on his breast. – John Burroughs
I have discovered the secret of happiness – it is work, either with the hands or the head. The moment I have something to do, the draughts are open and my chimney draws, and I am happy. – John Burroughs
Science has done more for the development of western civilization in one hundred years than Christianity did in eighteen hundred years. – John Burroughs
Some men are like nails, very easily drawn; others however are more like rivets never drawn at all. – John Burroughs
The crow in his purity I believe is seen and heard only in the North. Before you reach the Potomac there is an infusion of a weaker element, the fish-crow, whose helpless feminine call contrasts strongly with the hearty masculine caw of the original Simon. – John Burroughs, “Winter Sunshine”