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If my soul could get away from this so-called prison, be granted all the list of attributes generally bestowed on spirits, my first ramble on spirit-wings would not be among the volcanoes of the moon. Nor should I follow the sunbeams to their sources in the sun. I should hover about the beauty of our own good star. I should not go moping among the tombs, not around the artificial desolation of men. I should study Nature's laws in all their crossings and unions; I should follow magnetic streams to their source and follow the shores of our magnetic oceans. I should go among the rays of the aurora, and follow them to their beginnings, and study their dealings and communions with other powers and expressions of matter. And I should go to the very center of our globe and read the whole splendid page from the beginning. But my first journeys would be into the inner substance of flowers, and among the folds and mazes of Yosemite's falls. How grand to move about in the very tissue of falling columns, and in the very birthplace of their heavenly harmonies, looking outward as from windows of ever-varying transparency and staining!

John Muir#44

NatureEarthCuriosityScienceWonder

About this quote

What does it mean?
If free to explore spiritually, he would study nature's laws and beauty on Earth rather than visiting distant stars or tombs.
In plain terms
He preferred studying nature on Earth over visiting other places.
What can you take from it?
Earth's nature holds endless wonder to explore.

Where it applies

  • scientific study
  • spiritual seeking
  • philosophy

Putting it to work

  • field research
  • nature photography
  • educational tours

Questions to consider

  • What natural phenomenon fascates you most?
  • Why do you prefer Earth's mysteries?

Another view

Exploring distant worlds may also hold value for some.

More from John Muir

  1. I know that our bodies were made to thrive only in pure air, and the scenes in which pure air is found.

    Permalink to quote #43
  2. In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.

    Permalink to quote #45
  3. How infinitely superior to our physical senses are those of the mind! The spiritual eye sees not only rivers of water but of air. It sees the crystals of the r…

    Permalink to quote #42

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