The refreshing¹ pleasure from the first view of nature, after the pain of illness, and the confinement² of a sick-chamber, is above the conceptions, as well as the descriptions, of those in health.

Ann Radcliffe (1764 - 1823), The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1764

And then, the unspeakable purity and freshness of the air! There was just enough heat to enhance the value of the breeze, and just enough wind to keep the whole sea in motion, to make the waves come bounding to the shore, foaming³ and sparkling, as if wild with glee.

Anne Bronte (1820 - 1849), Agnes Grey

Our land is more valuable than your money. As long as the sun shines and the waters flow, this land will be here to give life to men and animals; therefore, we cannot sell this land. It was put here for us by the Great Spirit and we cannot sell it because it does not belong to us.

Anonymous⁴, Blackfoot chief (c. 1880)

Nature is just enough; but men and women must comprehend and accept her suggestions.

Antoinette Brown Blackwell (1825 - 1921)

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.

Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Parts of Animals

Nature does nothing uselessly.

Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Politics

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters.

Bible, Psalm⁵ xxiii. 2.

A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.

Carl Reiner

Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization.

Charles Lindbergh (1902 - 1974)

Art is born of the observation and investigation⁶ of nature.

Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

Nature herself makes the wise man rich.

Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

The materials of wealth are in the earth, in the seas, and in their natural and unaided productions.

Daniel Webster (1782 - 1852), Remarks in the Senate, march 12, 1838

I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.

Dr. Seuss (1904 - 1991), The Lorax

I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.

E. B. White (1899 - 1985)

Mountains inspire awe⁷ in any human person who has a soul. They remind us of our frailty⁸, our unimportance, of the briefness of our span upon this earth. They touch the heavens, and sail serenely⁹ at an altitude beyond even the imaginings of a mere¹⁰ mortal.

Elizabeth Aston, The Exploits & Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy, 2005

I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.

Frank Lloyd Wright (1869 - 1959)

Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative¹¹.

H. G. Wells (1866 - 1946)

In wildness is the preservation¹² of the world.

Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)

It is pleasant to have been to a place the way a river went.

Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)

Nature is wont¹³ to hide herself.

Heraclitus (540 BC - 480 BC), On the Universe

It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.

Hunter S. Thompson (1939 - 2005)

What nature delivers to us is never stale. Because what nature creates has eternity¹⁴ in it.

Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904 - 1991)

One cannot fix one's eyes on the commonest natural production without finding food for a rambling¹⁵ fancy.

Jane Austen (1775 - 1817), Mansfield Park

My mission is to create a world where we can live in harmony with nature.

Jane Goodall (1934 - )

People say to me so often, 'Jane how can you be so peaceful when everywhere around you people want books signed, people are asking these questions and yet you seem peaceful,' and I always answer that it is the peace of the forest that I carry inside.

Jane Goodall (1934 - )

You think Nature is some Disney movie? Nature is a killer¹⁶. Nature is a bitch. It's feeding time out there 24 hours a day, every step that you take is a gamble with death. If it isn't getting hit with lightning today, it's an earthquake tomorrow or some deer tick carrying Lime disease. Either way, you're ending up on the wrong end of the food chain.

Jeff Melvoin, Northern Exposure, Bolt from the Blue, 1994

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.

John Muir (1838 - 1914), Our National Parks, 1901

Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose¹⁷ like that of the green deep woods. Here grow the wallflower and the violet. The squirrel will come and sit upon your knee, the logcock will wake you in the morning. Sleep in forgetfulness of all ill. Of all the upness accessible to mortals, there is no upness comparable to the mountains.

John Muir (1838 - 1914), Atlantic Monthly, January 1869

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 alike.

John Muir (1838 - 1914), The Yosemite, 1912