Many of the greatest men have owed their success to industry rather than to cleverness.
John LubbockLife is a great gift, and as we reach years of discretion, most of us naturally ask ourselves what should be the main object of our existence.
John LubbockIt would be a great thing if people could be brought to realize that they can never add to the sum of their happiness by doing wrong.
John LubbockIt always seems to be raining harder than it really is when you look at the weather through the window.
John LubbockTry to realize all the blessings you have, and you will find perhaps that they are more than you suppose.
John LubbockWe must be careful what we read, and not, like the sailors of Ulysses, take bags of wind for sacks of treasure.
John LubbockExercise of the muscles keeps the body in health, and exercise of the brain brings peace of mind.
John LubbockArt trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life.
John LubbockTo render ourselves insensible to pain we must forfeit also the possibilities of happiness.
John LubbockRest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.
John LubbockWe often hear of people breaking down from overwork, but in nine out of ten they are really suffering from worry or anxiety.
John LubbockHappy indeed is the naturalist: to him the seasons come round like old friends; to him the birds sing: as he walks along, the flowers stretch out from the hedges, or look up from the ground, and as each year fades away, he looks back on a fresh store of happy memories.
John LubbockSavages have often been likened to children, and the comparison is not only correct but also highly instructive. Many naturalists consider that the early condition of the individual indicates that of the race,-that the best test of the affinities of a species are the stages through which it passes. So also it is in the case of man; the life of each individual is an epitome of the history of the race, and the gradual development of the child illustrates that of the species.
John LubbockWe are all great landed proprietors, if we only knew it. What we lack is not land, but the power to enjoy it. Moreover, this great inheritance has the additional advantage that it entails no labor, requires no management. The landlord has the trouble, but the landscape belongs to everyone who has eyes to see it.
John LubbockThere can be no merit in believing something which you can neither explain nor understand.
John LubbockSunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of Heaven.
John LubbockFalse pleasures come from without and are imperfect: happiness is internal and our own.
John LubbockDo not lay things too much to heart. No one is ever really beaten unless he is discouraged.
John LubbockA crowd is not necessarily company, but neither need it necessarily prevent thought or disturb peace of mind.
John LubbockA wise system of education will at last teach us how little man yet knows, how much he has still to learn.
John LubbockWhen important decisions have to be taken, the natural anxiety to come to a right decision will often keep you awake. Nothing, however, is more conducive to healthful sleep than plenty of open air.
John LubbockWe often hear of bad weather, but in reality no weather is bad. It is all delightful, though in different ways. Some weather may be bad for farmers or crops, but for man all kinds are good. Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating.
John LubbockBe cautious, but not too cautious; do not be too much afraid of making a mistake; a man who never makes a mistake will make nothing.
John LubbockLove seems to beautify and inspire all nature. It raises the earthly caterpillar into the ethereal butterfly, it paints the feathers in spring, it lights the glowworm's lamp, it wakens the song of birds, and inspires the poet's lay. Even inanimate Nature seems to feel the spell, and flowers glow with the richest colours.
John LubbockIt is sad, indeed, to see how man wastes his opportunities. How many could be made happy, with the blessings which are recklessly wasted or thrown away.
John LubbockThe important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn.
John LubbockMany savage nations worship trees, and I really think my first feeling would be one of delight and interest rather than of surprise, if some day when I am alone in the woods one of the trees were to speak to me.
John LubbockOur duty is to believe that for which we have sufficient evidence, and to suspend our judgment when we have not.
John LubbockAll those who love Nature she loves in return, and will richly reward, not perhaps with the good things, as they are commonly called, but with the best things of this world-not with money and titles, horses and carriages, but with bright and happy thoughts, contentment and peace of mind.
John LubbockThough it is a great mistake to make friends of the wicked and foolish, it is unwise to make enemies of them, for they are very numerous.
John Lubbock