John J Audubon Quotes & Sayings

As I grew up I was fervently desirous of becoming acquainted with Nature. — John James Audubon

The worse my drawings were, the more beautiful did the originals appear. — John James Audubon

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. — John James Audubon

The Carrion Crow and Turkey-Buzzard possess great power of recollection, so as to recognise at a great distance a person who has shot at them, and even the horse on which he rides. — John James Audubon

The mercantile business did not suit me. — John James Audubon

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. — John James Audubon

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. — John James Audubon

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

After all, I long to be in America again, nay, if I can go home to return no more to Europe, it seems to me that I shall ever enjoy more peace of mind, and even Physical comfort than I can meet with in any portion of the world beside. — John James Audubon

Never give up listening to the sounds of birds. — John James Audubon

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

July 2. A beautiful day for Labrador. Went ashore and killed nothing, but was pleased with what I saw. The country is so grandly wild and desolate that I am charmed by its wonderful dreariness. — John James Audubon

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. — John James Audubon

On landing at New York I caught the yellow fever. The kind man who commanded the ship that brought me from France took charge of me and placed me under the care of two Quaker ladies. To their skillful and untiring care I may safely say I owe my life. — John James Audubon

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. — John James Audubon

Look at that mallard as he floats on the lake; see his elevated head glittering with emerald green, his amber eyes glancing in the light! Even at this distance, he has marked you, and suspects that you bear no goodwill towards him, for he sees that you have a gun, and he has many a time been frightened by its report, or that of some other. The wary bird draws his feet under his body, springs upon then, opens his wings, and with loud quacks bids you farewell. — John James Audubon

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

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. — John James Audubon

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. — John James Audubon

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. — John James Audubon

To be a good draftsman was to me a blessing. — John James Audubon

The Fur Company may be called the exterminating medium of these wild and almost uninhabitable regions, which cupidity or the love of money alone would induce man to venture into. Where can I now go and find nature undisturbed? — John James Audubon

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. — John James Audubon

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

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

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. — John James Audubon

If I can procure three hundred good substantial names of persons, or bodies, or institutions, I cannot fail to do well for my family, although I must abandon my life to its success, and undergo many sad perplexities and perhaps never see again my own beloved America. — John James Audubon

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

I cannot help but think a curious event is this life of mine. — John James Audubon

Hunting, fishing, drawing, and music occupied my every moment. Cares I knew not, and cared naught about them. — John James Audubon