John James Audubon Quotes

The Golden Eagle, which has universally been considered as a bird of most extraordinary powers of flight, is in my estimation little more than a sluggard, though its wings are long and ample.

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.

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.

To repay evils with kindness is the religion I was taught to practise, and this will forever be my rule.

The eggers destroy all the eggs that are sat upon, to force the birds to lay fresh eggs, and by robbing them regularly compel them to lay until nature is exhausted, and so but few young ones are raised.

My drawings at first were made altogether in watercolors, but they wanted softness and a great deal of finish.

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.

But the moment a bird was dead, no matter how beautiful it had been in life, the pleasure of possession became blunted for me.

In my deepest troubles, I frequently would wrench myself from the persons around me and retire to some secluded part of our noble forests.

Nature indifferently copied is far superior to the best idealities.

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.

My heart swelled with uncontrollable delight ...

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.

A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.

The gay bunting erects his white crest, and gives utterance to the joy he feels in the presence of his brooding mate; the willow grouse on the rock crows his challenge aloud; each floweret, chilled by the night air, expands its pure petals; the gentle breeze shakes from the blades of grass the heavy dewdrops.

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.

I waged war against my feelings.

As I grew up I was fervently desirous of becoming acquainted with Nature.

Travelling through the breeding places of our species is far from being as interesting to me as it is to inspect the breeding places of the feathery tribes of our country.

Mathematics was hard, dull work. Geography pleased me more. For dancing I was quite enthusiastic.

My wife determined that my genius should prevail, and that my final success as an ornithologist should be triumphant.

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.

A few days of idleness have completely sickened me, and given me what is called the blue-devils so severely, that I feel that the sooner I go to work and drive them off, the better.

In America, business is the first object in view at all times, and rightly it should be so.

[Drawing should be] a journey of pleasure. Each step must present to the travellers' view objects that are eminently interesting, varied in their appearances, and attracting to such a degree as to excite in each individual thus happily employed the desire of knowing all respecting all he sees.

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.

The worse my drawings were, the more beautiful did the originals appear.

I cannot help but think a curious event is this life of mine.

The mercantile business did not suit me.

I wish I had eight pairs of hands, and another body to shoot the specimens.

Because my father was often absent on naval duty, my mother suffered me to do much as I pleased.

Patiently and with industry did I apply myself to study, for although I felt the impossibility of giving life to my productions, I did not abandon the idea of representing nature.

Reader, persons who have never witnessed a hurricane, such as not unfrequently desolates the sultry climates of the south, can scarcely form an idea of their terrific grandeur. One would think that, not content with laying waste all on land, it must needs sweep the waters of the shallows quite dry to quench its thirst.

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.

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.

The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those who sang the best.

How could I make a little book, when I have seen enough to make a dozen large books?

Thank God it has rained all day. I say thank God, though rain is no rarity, because it is the duty of every man to be thankful for whatever happens by the will of the Omnipotent Creator; yet it was not so agreeable to any of my party as a fine day would have been.

When the bird and the book disagree, believe the bird.

From the top of a high rock, I obtained a good few of the most extensive and dreary wilderness I ever beheld. It chilled the heart to gaze on these barrens of Labrador. Indeed, I now dread every change of harbor, so horridly rugged and dangerous is the whole coast and country to the eye, and to the experienced man either of the sea or the land.

During all these years there existed within me a tendency to follow Nature in her walks.