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It is generally supposed that complete pleasure of this kind, permeating one's very flesh and bones, unfits the student for scientific pursuits in which cool judgment and observation are required. But the effect is just the opposite. Instead of producing a dissipated condition, the mind is fertilized and stimulated and developed like sun-fed plants.

— John Muir The Mountains of California (1894)

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More quotes by John Muir

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

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

The forests of America, however slighted by man, must have been a great delight to God; for they were the best he ever planted.

Our National Parks (1901)

The world, we are told, was made especially for man — a presumption not supported by all the facts.

No portion of the world is so barren as not to yield a rich and precious harvest of divine truth.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John Muir (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.