“How terribly downright must seem the utterances of storms and earthquakes to those accustomed to the soft hypocrisies of society.”

—  John Muir

" Flood-Storm in the Sierra http://books.google.com/books?id=Iy0GAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA489", Overland Monthly, volume 14, number 6 (June 1875) pages 489-496 (at page 494)
1870s

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "How terribly downright must seem the utterances of storms and earthquakes to those accustomed to the soft hypocrisies o…" by John Muir?
John Muir photo
John Muir 183
Scottish-born American naturalist and author 1838–1914

Related quotes

Frederick Douglass photo

“For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.”

Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman

1850s, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? (1852)
Context: At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could reach the nation's ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.

Peter Kropotkin photo
Wesley Clark photo
Bill Maher photo
John Muir photo

“Storms of every sort, torrents, earthquakes, cataclysms, "convulsions of nature," etc., however mysterious and lawless at first sight they may seem, are only harmonious notes in the song of creation, varied expressions of God's love.”

John Muir (1838–1914) Scottish-born American naturalist and author

" The Fountains and Streams of the Yosemite National Park http://books.google.com/books?id=2CsRAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA556", The Atlantic Monthly, volume LXXXVII, number 519 (January 1901) pages 556-565 (at page 565); reprinted in Our National Parks http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/our_national_parks/ (1901), chapter 8: The Fountains and Streams of the Yosemite National Park
1900s, Our National Parks (1901)

“Hypocrisy is the lubricant of society.”

David Hull (1935–2010) American philosopher

As quoted in Collection of Quotable Quotes (2004) by Advanced Marketing Services

William T. Sherman photo

“You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against these terrible hardships of war.”

William T. Sherman (1820–1891) American General, businessman, educator, and author.

1860s, 1864, Letter to the City of Atlanta (September 1864)
Context: You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against these terrible hardships of war. They are inevitable, and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home, is to stop the war, which can only be done by admitting that it began in error and is perpetuated in pride.

Liam O'Flaherty photo

“I was born on a storm-swept rock and hate the soft growth of sun-baked lands where there is no frost in men's bones.”

Liam O'Flaherty (1896–1984) Irish writer

Joseph Conrad: An Appreciation (1930; New York: Haskell House, 1973) p. 11

Karl Marx photo

Related topics