Richard Jefferies Quotes & Sayings

“This sunlight linked me through the ages to that past consciousness.”

“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.”

“Grief falls upon human beings as the rain, not selecting good or evil, visiting the innocent, condemning those who have done no wrong.”

“When even the most strictly logical mind looks round and investigates the phenomena attending its own existence, perhaps the first fact to attract attention by its strongly marked prominence is the remarkable loneliness of man. He stands alone.”

“If every plant and flower were found in all places, the charm of locality would not exist. Everything varies, and that gives the interest.”

“It would seem that the ant works its way tentatively, and, observing where it fails, tries another place and succeeds.”

“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.”

“Every woman likes her own way, but no woman can endure to see another woman master even over a man who does not concern her.”

“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.”

“Almost every labourer has his Sunday suit, very often really good clothes, sometimes glossy black, with the regulation 'chimney pot'. His unfortunate walk betrays him, dress how he will.”