Quote from John Burroughs
“A better world I have never wanted. I could not begin to exhaust the knowledge and the delights of this one. I have found within it deep within deep worlds within a world, an endless series of beautiful and wonderful forms forever flowing out of itself from the highest heavens of the telescope to the minutest organism of the microscope. All is beautiful and wonderful and passeth understanding.”
The Summit of the Years
John Burroughs 1913
Who is John Burroughs?
“Few today realize how well-known John Burroughs was during his lifetime (1837 – 1921.) He was considered America’s first essayist on nature at a time when people had enough leisure to take up bird-watching and other outdoor pursuits. His friends included Walt Whitman, Thomas Edison and John Muir. Henry Ford visited him many times and even gave him a car. One of Burroughs’ biographers, Edward Renehan, wrote: ‘The nature essays of John Burroughs had for more than 20 years been packaged into special editions as children’s reading primers. By 1912, these were used in almost every school district in the country and were just one of the reasons why Burroughs was a very famous man.’”
Trail Reflections, 50 Years of Hiking and Backpacking
Jim Kern 2012
“A trip into the Catskills gave me a chance to hike Slide Mountain, made famous by John Burroughs, naturalist and nature writer.”