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
observing tries works
It would seem that the ant works its way tentatively, and, observing where it fails, tries another place and succeeds.
boldest claim creeping felt natural spirits thick
To the darkness and the night, the spirits seem to have a natural claim - it is their realm; the boldest of us have sometimes felt an unaccountable creeping in the thick darkness.
beauty divine
That I may have the soul-life, the soul-nature, let divine beauty bring to me divine soul.
boldness courage delicate goes manner natures quite whether women
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.
alone books work
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.
clearly
A woman can see a woman so clearly - faluts, excellences, details - all are so clear to her.
affairs drift greeks human lead pulls tendency
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.
mind
It is injurious to the mind as well as to the body to be always in one place and always surrounded by the same circumstances.
change delight good joy men miserable verily village
Some, I verily believe, delight to be slave-men; it is a joy to them, and they would not change their condition; not only miserable village wretches, but men in good position, well-to-do sycophants.
body death merely visible
Look at another person while living; the soul is not visible, only the body which it animates. Therefore, merely because after death the soul is not visible is no demonstration that it does not still live.
alone beach beats beauty die form fortune labour pleasure profit sea surface thousand truth
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.
art highest lover nature
The lover of nature has the highest art in his soul.
song healing sunshine
I must stay under the old tree in the midst of the long grass, the luxury of the leaves, and the song in the very air. It seems as if I could feel all the glowing life the sunshine gives and the south winds calls into being.
business lying animal
I have observed that almost all those whose labour lies in the field, and who go down to their business in the green meadows, admit the animal world to a share in the faculty of reason. It is the cabinet makers who construct a universe of automatons.