All human joys are swift of wing,
For heaven doth so allot it;
That when you get read more

All human joys are swift of wing,
For heaven doth so allot it;
That when you get an easy thing,
You find you haven't got it.

You can live for years next door to a big pine tree, honored to have so venerable a neighbor, even read more

You can live for years next door to a big pine tree, honored to have so venerable a neighbor, even when it sheds needles all over your flowers or wakes you, dropping big cones onto your deck at still of night.

Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and numbs my brain, I seek relief in the read more

Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and numbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me - I am happy.

I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no read more

I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite.

In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds.

In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds.

All finite things reveal infinitude: The mountain withi its singular bright shade Like the blue shine on freshly frozen snow, read more

All finite things reveal infinitude: The mountain withi its singular bright shade Like the blue shine on freshly frozen snow, The after-light upon ice-burdened pines; Odor of basswood upon a mountain slope, A scene beloved of bees; Silence of water above a sunken tree: The pure serene of memory of one man,-- A ripple widening from a single stone Winding around the waters of the world.

Whenever man comes up with a better mousetrap, nature immediately comes up with a better mouse.

Whenever man comes up with a better mousetrap, nature immediately comes up with a better mouse.

Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours.".

Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours.".

Every advance in civilization has been denounced as unnatural while it was recent

Every advance in civilization has been denounced as unnatural while it was recent