What better essay to read on Earth Day than one by the father of modern American environmentalism?
In decrying the destruction of woodlands by loggers, settlers, and industrialists, Muir, the father of America’s conservation movement, advanced the notion that natural resources ought to be preserved—an idea that spawned vast new parks as well as the creation of the U.S. Forest Service.
The last of three excerpts from John Muir’s autobiography
The second of three excerpts from John Muir’s autobiography
The first of three excerpts from John Muir’s autobiography
“The natural inherited wildness in our blood ran true on its glorious course, as invincible and unstoppable as the stars.”
Extracts from John Muir’s personal writings
Extracts from John Muir’s personal writings
Extracts from John Muir’s personal writings
Extracts from John Muir’s personal writings
“Though accustomed to read the trees themselves, not written descriptions of them, I have read it through twice, as if it were a novel, and wished it were longer.”
“Resolute, consummate, determined in form, always beheld with wondering admiration, the Big Tree always seems unfamiliar, standing alone, unrelated, with peculiar physiognomy, awfully solemn and earnest.”
"All the streams are in flood and the birds are singing, and the landscape is glowing in a deep calm enthusiasm, like the face of a god."
"Nature, like an enthusiastic gardener, could not resist the temptation to plant flowers everywhere."
"Since Emerson was so soon to vanish, I concluded to stop with him. He hardly spoke a word all the evening, yet it was a great pleasure simply to be near him, warming in the light of his face as at a fire."
“All the world lies warm in one heart, yet the Sierra seems to get more light than other mountains.”
"No wonder he sings well, since all the air about him is music."
“In my first interview with a Sierra bear we were frightened and embarrassed, both of us, but the bear’s behavior was better than mine.”
“Wander here a whole summer, if you can. Thousands of God’s wild blessings will search you and soak you as if you were a sponge, and the big days will go by uncounted.”