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WWF Words of Inspiration

A wide lens view of green forested mountains and a colorful sky

© Shutterstock/ Taras Vyshnya/ WWF

We can learn a lot from nature, even on the days we can't get outside. Check out our favorite nature quotes from famous thinkers by selecting the emotion closest to how you're feeling.

How are you feeling today?

Closeup of a golden dog with his tongue out

© Wayne Wu / TRAFFIC

Happy

“Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.”
Gerard de Nerval

“Go where you feel most alive.”
Unknown

“How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!”
John Muir

Golden-haired monkey sitting in tree

© WWF-US/AARON CLAUSEN

Sad

“Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by the letting of a little water.”
Christopher Morley

“It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses, we must plant more roses.”
George Eliot

“Storms make trees take deeper roots.”
Dolly Parton

A chimp surrounded by green foliage

© WWF/Megan Smith

Anxious

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
Lao Tzu

“Time spent around trees is never wasted time.”
Katrina Mayer

“Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

African Forest Elephant calf with mother running

© naturepl.com / Jabruson / WWF

Excited

“In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous.”
Aristotle

“Colors are the smiles of nature.”
Leigh Hunt

“When you stop and look around, the world is pretty amazing.”
Dr. Seuss

A tiger appears to growl, with a fierce expression

© Chris Martin Bahr / WWF-Canon

Angry

“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.”
Henry David Thoreau

“The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.”
Rabindranath Tagore

“Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.”
Rumi

A fennec fox sleeping with large ears upright

© Shutterstock

Calm

“My soul steers me into nature's silence.”
Angie Weiland-Crosby

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
John Muir

“Green calmness below, blue quietness above.”
Unknown