That which distinguishes this day from all others is that then both orators and artillerymen shoot blank cartridges.

Culture means the perfect and equal development of man on all sides.

[T]he cold warms me—after a different fashion from that of the kitchen stove.

One can return to their place of birth, but one cannot go back to your youth.

Nature teaches more than she preaches. There are no sermons in stones. It is easier to get a spark out of a stone than a moral.

Natural history is a matter of observation; it is a harvest which you gather when and where you find it growing. Birds and squirrels and flowers are not always in season, but philosophy we have always with us. It is a crop which we can grow and reap at all times and in all places and it has its own value and brings its own satisfaction.

We have produced some good walkers and saunterers, and some noted climbers; but as a staple recreation, as a daily practice, the mass of the people dislike and despise walking.