Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

John Muir Environmentalist

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: United States
  • Born: Apr 21, 1838
  • Died: Dec 24, 1914

John Muir was a Scottish-American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is a prominent American conservation organization. The 211-mile John Muir Trail, a hiking trail in the Sierra Nevada, was named in his honor. Other such places include Muir Woods National Monument, Muir Beach, John Muir College, Mount Muir, Camp Muir and Muir Glacier.

In his later life, Muir devoted most of his time to the preservation of the Western forests. He petitioned the U.S. Congress for the National Park bill that was passed in 1890, establishing Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. The spiritual quality and enthusiasm toward nature expressed in his writings inspired readers, including presidents and congressmen, to take action to help preserve large nature areas.

The power of imagination makes us infinite. imagination, inspirational & power

To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world. travel

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. good & wisdom

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. beauty, health, nature & strength

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. environmental

Take a course in good water and air and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone no harm will befall you. alone, environmental & nature

The mountains are calling and I must go. nature

How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains! inspirational

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. nature & wisdom

The gross heathenism of civilization has generally destroyed nature, and poetry, and all that is spiritual. nature & poetry

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. nature & travel

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. nature

There is that in the glance of a flower which may at times control the greatest of creation's braggart lords. power