“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings" (Happy Birthday John Muir)

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life." John Muir

John Muir, John of the Mountains, was born on April 21, 1838. He was one of the greatest naturalist, explorer, environmentalist and advocate for wilderness preservation in the United States. John Muir was also an inventor, farmer and writer.

John Muir was one of the most influential American environmentalists. With nothing more than a blanket, a tin cup and a piece of bread, he would walk hundreds of miles in the wilderness of California, Alaska, Australia, South America, Africa, Europe, China, Japan, and many other places. John Muir’s greatest legacy was raising awareness of the importance of experiencing and protecting the natural world.

I wanted to put some of his most inspirational quotes together as a reminder of his message, his legacy and the importance of protecting the environment and the natural world.

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.”

“Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”

“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.”

“The gross heathenism of civilization has generally destroyed nature, and poetry, and all that is spiritual.”

“The world's big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark.”

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”

“As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I'll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can".”

“I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news”

“This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.”

“We are now in the mountains and they are in
us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.”

“On no subject are our ideas more warped and pitiable than on death. ... Let children walk with nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life, and that the grave has no victory, for it never fights.”

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About the Author: Enrique Rubio is an Electronic Engineer and a Fulbright scholar with an Executive Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University. Enrique is passionate about leadership, business and social entrepreneurship, curiosity, creativity and innovation. He is a blogger and podcaster, and also a competitive ultrarunner. Visit the blog: Innovation for Development and Podcast. Click here to follow Enrique on Twitter. 

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