The secret of happiness is something to do.

- John Burroughs

Writing is reporting what we saw after the vision has left us. It is catching the fish which the tide has left far up on our shores in the low and depressed places.

- John Burroughs

Travel and society polish one, but a rolling stone gathers no moss, and a little moss is a good thing on a man.

- John Burroughs

One may summon his philosophy when they are beaten in battle, not till then.

- 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

The Kingdom of Heaven is not a place, but a state of mind.

- John Burroughs

If we take science as our sole guide, if we accept and hold fast that alone which is verifiable, the old theology must go.

- John Burroughs

A man can get discouraged many times but he is not a failure until he begins to blame somebody else and stops trying.

- John Burroughs

To treat your facts with imagination is one thing, to imagine your facts is another.

- John Burroughs

The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.

- John Burroughs

The spirit of man can endure only so much and when it is broken only a miracle can mend it.

- John Burroughs

If you think you can do it, you can.

- John Burroughs

Joy in the universe, and keen curiosity about it all - that has been my religion.

- John Burroughs

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.

- John Burroughs

Nature teaches more than she preaches. There are no sermons in stones. It is easier to get a spark out of a stone than a moral.

- John Burroughs

How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.

- John Burroughs

A somebody was once a nobody who wanted to and did.

- John Burroughs

A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.

- John Burroughs

Leap, and the net will appear.

- John Burroughs

For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice - no paper currency, no promises to pay, but the gold of real service.

- John Burroughs