John Muir

John Muir

I happened to find the following quote on a blog I regularly visit:

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

-- John Muir

The name seemed vaguely familiar to me but I couldn't quite place it so I decided I needed to find out who, in fact, John Muir was. I have simply been rivited in reading about him:

John Muir (April 21, 1838 - December 24, 1914) was one of the earliest modern preservationists. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, and wild life, especially in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, were read by millions and are still popular today. His direct activism helped to save the Yosemite Valley and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is now one of the most important conservation organizations in the United States. But more than that his vision of nature's value for its own sake and for its spiritual, not just practical, benefits to mankind helped to change the way we look at the natural world. (from the Wikipedia article)

Here's something he said that I wish we would pay attention to:

No dogma taught by the present civilization seems to form so insuperable an obstacle in a way of a right understanding of the relations which culture sustains as to wilderness, as that which declares that the world was made especially for the uses of men. Every animal, plant, and crystal controverts it in the plainest terms. Yet it is taught from century to century as something ever new and precious, and in the resulting darkness the enormous conceit is allowed to go unchallenged.

He would be horrified, if he were alive today, by what we have done to the earth.

You can support the Sierra Club by going here.

UPDATE: Here's a link that might interest you: John Muir Trust. It was brought to my attention by commenter Tim.