John James Audubon Quotes
A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.
Hunting, fishing, drawing, and music occupied my every moment. Cares I knew not, and cared naught about them.
But hopes are shy birds flying at a great distance, seldom reached by the best of guns.
One day I caught four Dolphins, how much I have gazed at these beautiful creatures... as they changed their hue in twenty varieties of richest arrangement of tints.
I can scarcely manage to scribble a tolerable English letter. I know that I am not a scholar, but meantime I am aware that no man living knows better than I do the habits of our birds.
In my deepest troubles, I frequently would wrench myself from the persons around me and retire to some secluded part of our noble forests.
During all these years there existed within me a tendency to follow Nature in her walks.
Great men show politeness in a particular way; a smile suffices to assure you that you are welcome, and keep about their avocations as if you were a member of the family.
The best recommendation I can have is my own talents, and the fruits of my own labors, and what others will not do for me, I will try and do for myself.
I never for a day gave up listening to the songs of our birds, or watching their peculiar habits, or delineating them in the best way I could.
There is but one kind of love; God is love, and all his creatures derive theirs from his; only it is modified by the different degrees of intelligence in different beings and creatures.
My drawings at first were made altogether in watercolors, but they wanted softness and a great deal of finish.
Mathematics was hard, dull work, I thought; geography pleased me more. For my other studies, as well as for dancing, I was quite enthusiastic.
A Mocking Bird regularly resorts to the south angle of a chimney top and salutes us with sweetest notes from the rising of the moon until about midnight.
If only the bird with the loveliest song sang, the forest would be a lonely place.
The fact is I am growing old too fast, alas! I feel it, and yet work I will, and may God grant me life to see the last plate of my mammoth work finished.
Almost every day, instead of going to school when I ought to have gone, I usually made for the fields, where I spent the day.
But the moment a bird was dead, no matter how beautiful it had been in life, the pleasure of possession became blunted for me.
Because my father was often absent on naval duty, my mother suffered me to do much as I pleased
The nature of the place...whether high or low, moist or dry, whether sloping north or south, or bearing tall trees or low shrubs...generally gives hint as to its inhabitants.
How could I make a little book, when I have seen enough to make a dozen large books?
To have been torn from the study would have been as death; my time was entirely occupied with art.
I feel fully decided that we should all go to Europe together and to work as if an established Partnership for Life consisting of Husband Wife and Children.
On the 17th of May, the Delos put out to sea. I was immediately affected with sea-sickness, which, however, lasted but a short time. I remained on deck constantly, forcing myself to exercise.
Poor France, thy fine climate, rich vineyards, and the wishes of the learned avail nothing; thou art a destitute beggar, and not the powerful friend thou wert represented to me.
To repay evils with kindness is the religion I was taught to practise, and this will forever be my rule.
I purchased excellent and beautiful horses, visited all such neighbors as I found in congenial spirits, and was as happy as happy could be.
I discover that my friends think only of my apparel, and those upon whom I have conferred acts of kindness prefer to remind me of my errors.
But Hopes are Shy Birds flying at a great distance seldom reached by the best of Guns.