Richard Jefferies
Richard Jefferies
John Richard Jefferieswas an English nature writer, noted for his depiction of English rural life in essays, books of natural history, and novels. His childhood on a small Wiltshire farm had a great influence on him and provides the background to all his major works of fiction...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth6 November 1848
alone delicious great
Is there anything so delicious as the first exploration of a great library - alone - unwatched?
advantage enormous equal evil good hands moment offers power printing puts science
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.
broader deeper desire hope
I desire a greatness of soul, an irradiance of mind, a deeper insight, a broader hope.
effect power
Give me power of soul, so that I may actually effect by its will that which I strive for.
alone attending attract fact logical looks marked mind perhaps phenomena remarkable round stands strictly strongly
When even the most strictly logical mind looks round and investigates the phenomena attending its own existence, perhaps the first fact to attract attention by its strongly marked prominence is the remarkable loneliness of man. He stands alone.
foot human longing yearning
The heart has a yearning for the unknown, a longing to penetrate the deep shadow and the winding glade, where, as it seems, no human foot has been.
agreed artificial future time
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.
despot eagerly execute hands history however matter men ready rushed saddest serve sight
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.
air alone breath health pure
An inspiration - a long, deep breath of the pure air of thought - could alone give health to the heart.
broad conquering disc elder favourite figure gradual word
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.
bad believe breadth cottage fit human landed landlords large length proper single thoroughly throughout work
The cottages erected by farmers or by landlords are now, one and all, fit and proper habitations for human beings; and I verifly believe it would be impossible throughout the length and breadth of Wiltshire to find a single bad cottage on any large estate, so well and so thoroughly have the landed proprietors done their work.
ages english-author linked
This sunlight linked me through the ages to that past consciousness.
atmosphere breath calm coming dead early falls raining soft straight
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.
beings condemning falls good human selecting visiting
Grief falls upon human beings as the rain, not selecting good or evil, visiting the innocent, condemning those who have done no wrong.