John Burroughs School - Governor Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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JOHN BURROUGHS 1837-1937

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John Burroughs, A Character Study OHN BURROUGHS' books and poems have had a great influence upon the people of this country. John Burroughs wrote about thirty books of the Wake Robin type, many poems and many articles for the newspapers. Today, the people of this country are more interested in nature, more conscious of the world outside, because a man like Burroughs lived. Through his books, Burroughs reached many people and influenced them toward a greater curiosity and love for nature. However, Burroughs had a greater talent, a talent which has had even more influence upon the populace than his writings. This talent was his ability to make friends. He was known and esteemed by the greatest men of his day. He was interested in everything. Many things influenced the character of John Burroughs. His stern and stubborn father gave him the ability to decide for himself and keep his viewsg his kind and loving mother taught him human kindness and a love of natureg his early life on a farm naturally turned his interests to the out-of-doors. The best way that we can look into the character of John Burroughs and see for ourselves what made him so esteemed as a friend is through his journal. His journal or his diary was kept for many years. He wrote in it whenever he felt like it. He never expected to publish itg consequently, he wrote his own opinions about life. John Burroughs had a shrewd ability to see behind the ordinary, to draw conclusions from the simplest things, to analyze, to see the effect and determine the cause. The following selections from his journal illustrate the point: I notice that boots and shoes standing alone always have a sad look, never a smiling or joyous one. The wrinkles about the instep seem to cause it. Vital literature is not made by the study of literature, but by the study of things, of life. John Burroughs had a great curiosity about things in nature and often this led him to new fields of interest. John Burroughs was not, however, only interested in nature. He had a broad knowledge of the world. He held his own opinions and the following is an example of his philosophy: The more we live upon the breath of the newspapers, the more will the mental and spiritual condition out of which come real literature and art be barred to us. The more We live in the hard, close, cutting, calculating business spirit, the further are we from the spirit of' literature. The more we surrender ourselves to the fever and haste and competition of the industrial spirit, the more are the doors of the heaven of the great poems and works of art closed to us. The more we live and move and have our being in the scientific spirit, the spirit of exact knowledge, the fewer monumental works of literature we leave behind us.