It is quite true that women like courage, and that boldness often goes a long way; but it is questionable whether with high-bred natures a subdued, quiet, and delicate manner does not go still further.

Richard Jefferies

An inspiration - a long, deep breath of the pure air of thought - could alone give health to the heart.

Richard Jefferies

This sunlight linked me through the ages to that past consciousness.

Richard Jefferies

No tyrant, however evil, has yet lacked ready hands to execute his most abominable will. To read how eagerly men have rushed to serve the despot is the bitterest, the saddest matter of history; it is the saddest sight in our own day.

Richard Jefferies

I desire a greatness of soul, an irradiance of mind, a deeper insight, a broader hope.

Richard Jefferies

Beauty - what is beauty, forsooth? Form and color; that is, surface only. Fortune - what is fortune? Nothing is ever a pleasure or a real profit to him who has to labour for it. Truth - you die in the pursuit, and the sea beats the beach as it did a thousand years ago. The stolid are alone happy.

Richard Jefferies

A kestrel can and does hover in the dead calm of summer days, when there is not the faintest breath of wind. He will, and does, hover in the still, soft atmosphere of early autumn, when the gossamer falls in showers, coming straight down as if it were raining silk.

Richard Jefferies

To the soul, there is no past and no future; all is, and will be ever, in now. For artificial purposes time is mutually agreed on, but there is really no such thing.

Richard Jefferies

Grief falls upon human beings as the rain, not selecting good or evil, visiting the innocent, condemning those who have done no wrong.

Richard Jefferies

Is there anything so delicious as the first exploration of a great library - alone - unwatched?

Richard Jefferies

A man, to read, must read alone. He may make extracts, he may work at books in company; but to read, to absorb, he must be solitary.

Richard Jefferies

If every plant and flower were found in all places, the charm of locality would not exist. Everything varies, and that gives the interest.

Richard Jefferies

It would seem that the ant works its way tentatively, and, observing where it fails, tries another place and succeeds.

Richard Jefferies

The old Greeks dwelt on the tendency of human affairs to drift downwards irresistibly to unhappiness. Guilt - that is, untoward and often involuntary actions - pulls generation after generation heavily as lead down, down, down.

Richard Jefferies

The 'crownd' is still the unit, the favourite coin of the labourers, especially the elder folk. They use the word something in the same sense as the dollar, and look with regret upon the gradual disappearance of the broad silver disc with the figure of 'St. Gaarge' conquering the dragon.

Richard Jefferies

Science, as illustrated by the printing press, the telegraph, the railway, is a double-edged sword. At the same moment that it puts an enormous power in the hands of the good man, it also offers an equal advantage to the evil disposed.

Richard Jefferies

The lover of nature has the highest art in his soul.

Richard Jefferies

Do you always do as you would like to do were it in your power? I find that circumstances force me often to act in a manner quite opposite to what I should prefer; I am, of course, judged by my acts, but do they really afford a true key to my character? I think not.

Richard Jefferies

Many labourers can trace their descent from farmers or well-to-do people, and it is not uncommon to find here and there a man who believes that he is entitled to a large property in Chancery, or elsewhere, as the heir.

Richard Jefferies

There are people in this servile world who will endure any trampling, and at the first beck rush delightedly to proffer their assistance.

Richard Jefferies

Richard Jefferies Quotes

It is quite true that women like courage, and that boldness often goes a long way; but it is questionable whether with high-bred natures a subdued, quiet, and delicate manner does not go still further.

An inspiration - a long, deep breath of the pure air of thought - could alone give health to the heart.

This sunlight linked me through the ages to that past consciousness.

No tyrant, however evil, has yet lacked ready hands to execute his most abominable will. To read how eagerly men have rushed to serve the despot is the bitterest, the saddest matter of history; it is the saddest sight in our own day.

I desire a greatness of soul, an irradiance of mind, a deeper insight, a broader hope.

Beauty - what is beauty, forsooth? Form and color; that is, surface only. Fortune - what is fortune? Nothing is ever a pleasure or a real profit to him who has to labour for it. Truth - you die in the pursuit, and the sea beats the beach as it did a thousand years ago. The stolid are alone happy.

A kestrel can and does hover in the dead calm of summer days, when there is not the faintest breath of wind. He will, and does, hover in the still, soft atmosphere of early autumn, when the gossamer falls in showers, coming straight down as if it were raining silk.

To the soul, there is no past and no future; all is, and will be ever, in now. For artificial purposes time is mutually agreed on, but there is really no such thing.

Grief falls upon human beings as the rain, not selecting good or evil, visiting the innocent, condemning those who have done no wrong.

Is there anything so delicious as the first exploration of a great library - alone - unwatched?

A man, to read, must read alone. He may make extracts, he may work at books in company; but to read, to absorb, he must be solitary.

If every plant and flower were found in all places, the charm of locality would not exist. Everything varies, and that gives the interest.

It would seem that the ant works its way tentatively, and, observing where it fails, tries another place and succeeds.

The old Greeks dwelt on the tendency of human affairs to drift downwards irresistibly to unhappiness. Guilt - that is, untoward and often involuntary actions - pulls generation after generation heavily as lead down, down, down.

The 'crownd' is still the unit, the favourite coin of the labourers, especially the elder folk. They use the word something in the same sense as the dollar, and look with regret upon the gradual disappearance of the broad silver disc with the figure of 'St. Gaarge' conquering the dragon.

Science, as illustrated by the printing press, the telegraph, the railway, is a double-edged sword. At the same moment that it puts an enormous power in the hands of the good man, it also offers an equal advantage to the evil disposed.

The lover of nature has the highest art in his soul.

Do you always do as you would like to do were it in your power? I find that circumstances force me often to act in a manner quite opposite to what I should prefer; I am, of course, judged by my acts, but do they really afford a true key to my character? I think not.

Many labourers can trace their descent from farmers or well-to-do people, and it is not uncommon to find here and there a man who believes that he is entitled to a large property in Chancery, or elsewhere, as the heir.

There are people in this servile world who will endure any trampling, and at the first beck rush delightedly to proffer their assistance.