The impression left after watching the motions of birds is that of extreme mobility – a life of perpetual impulse checked only by fear. – Richard Jefferies
The ‘crownd’ is still the unit, the favourite coin of the labourers, especially the elder folk. They use the word something in the same sense as the dollar, and look with regret upon the gradual disappearance of the broad silver disc with the figure of ‘St. Gaarge’ conquering the dragon. – Richard Jefferies
Science, as illustrated by the printing press, the telegraph, the railway, is a double-edged sword. At the same moment that it puts an enormous power in the hands of the good man, it also offers an equal advantage to the evil disposed. – Richard Jefferies
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. – Richard Jefferies
No tyrant, however evil, has yet lacked ready hands to execute his most abominable will. To read how eagerly men have rushed to serve the despot is the bitterest, the saddest matter of history; it is the saddest sight in our own day. – Richard Jefferies
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. – Richard Jefferies
The workman in the true sense of the word – the artist in guns – is either extinct, or hidden in an obscure corner. There is no individuality about modern guns. One is exactly like another. – Richard Jefferies
That I may have the soul-life, the soul-nature, let divine beauty bring to me divine soul. – Richard Jefferies
Give me power of soul, so that I may actually effect by its will that which I strive for. – Richard Jefferies
If every plant and flower were found in all places, the charm of locality would not exist. Everything varies, and that gives the interest. – Richard Jefferies
An inspiration – a long, deep breath of the pure air of thought – could alone give health to the heart. – Richard Jefferies
To the soul, there is no past and no future; all is, and will be ever, in now. For artificial purposes time is mutually agreed on, but there is really no such thing. – Richard Jefferies
I believe in the human form; let me find something, some method, by which that form may achieve the utmost beauty. – Richard Jefferies
The heart has a yearning for the unknown, a longing to penetrate the deep shadow and the winding glade, where, as it seems, no human foot has been. – Richard Jefferies
Ever since the world began, it has been the belief of mankind that desolate places are the special haunt of supernatural beings. – Richard Jefferies
A kestrel can and does hover in the dead calm of summer days, when there is not the faintest breath of wind. He will, and does, hover in the still, soft atmosphere of early autumn, when the gossamer falls in showers, coming straight down as if it were raining silk. – Richard Jefferies
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. – Richard Jefferies
It would seem that the ant works its way tentatively, and, observing where it fails, tries another place and succeeds. – Richard Jefferies
A woman can see a woman so clearly – faluts, excellences, details – all are so clear to her. – Richard Jefferies
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. – Richard Jefferies
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. – Richard Jefferies
Is there anything so delicious as the first exploration of a great library – alone – unwatched? – Richard Jefferies
I desire a greatness of soul, an irradiance of mind, a deeper insight, a broader hope. – Richard Jefferies
