Accepting the Universe [Paperback]

John Burroughs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 20, 2001

I SHALL WE ACCEPT THE UNIVERSE? I IT 13 reported of Margaret Fuller that she said she accepted the universe. ** Gad, she'd better!" retorted Carlyle. Carlyle himself did not accept the universe in a very whole-hearted manner. Looking up at the midnight stars, he exclaimed: "A sad spectacle! If they be inhabited, what a scope for misery and folly; if they be na inhabited, what a waste of space!" It ought not to be a hard thing to accept the universe, since it appears to be a fixture, and we have no choice in the matter; but I have found it worth while to look the gift in the mouth, and convince myself that it is really worth accepting. It were a pity to go through life with a suspicion in one's mind that it might have been a better universe, and that some wrong has been done us because we have no freedom of choice in the matter. The thought would add a tinge of bitterness to all our days. And so, after living more than four score years in the world, and pondering long and inten

Table of Contents

CONTENTS; I Shall we Accept the Universe? 3; II, Manifold Nature 19; III Each for its Own Sake SO; IV The Universal Beneficence 54; V Tiie Good Devils 73; VI The Natural Providence 90; VII The Faith of a Naturalist 112; VIII A Fallacy made in Germany 134; IX The Price of Development 138; X Tooth and Claw 158; XI Men and Trees 173; XII TnE Problem of Evil 193; XIII Horizon Lines: ; i TnE origin of life 203; h the living and non-living worlds 205; in the organizing tendency 207; IV science and mysticism 211; V IS there design in nature? 219; VI our impartial mother 225; VII baffling truths 226; vm sense contradictions 230; IX man a part of nature 233; X, the fittest to survive 237; CONTENTS; XIII Horizon Lines (continued):; xi the power of choice 238; xii illusions 239; xiii, is nature suicidal 7 242; xiv the persistence of energy 245; KIV Soundings: ; i the great mystery 253; u the natural order 257; hi logic and religi

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

"A wheel may have many spokes, but can have but one hub. So I may say of this volume of mine that here are many themes and chapter heading, but there is but one central thought into which they all converge, and that is that the universe is good, and that it is our rare good fortune to form a part of it. As this collection of essays does not aim to be a systematic treatise on any one theme, but rather a series of sallies, excursions, into the world of semi-philosophical speculation, there is inevitably much repetition; there may even be some contradiction. But I have concluded to let them stand, as I find myself an interested spectator of the workings of my own mind when, in following different roads, it arrives at the same truth. As all roads lead to Rome, so in the realm, in which my mind works in this volume, all roads lead to the conclusion that his is the best possible world, and these people in it are the best possible people."

"My reader need hardly be told that theological grounds do not count with me. I want nothing less than a faith founded upon a rock, faith in the constitution of things. The various man-made creeds are fictitious, like the constellations -- Orion, Cassiopeia's Chair, the Big Dipper; the only thing real in them is the stars, and the only thing real in the creeds is the soul's aspiration toward the Infinite."

-- John Burroughs--

About the Author

John Burroughs was born April 3, 1837, near the town of Roxbury in the Catskill Mountains. Growing up on his parents' farm, he absorbed much of the nature and country life that he would later write about in his many volumes.

He taught briefly, married, and during the Civil War settled in Washington, D.C. where he obtained a job as a clerk in the Treasury Department. It was during his nine years in Washington that he published his first book, Wake-Robin. In 1873 he returned to New York State and established his home "Riverby" on the west bank of the Hudson River at West Park. He began fruit farming and continued to write, publishing a new books about every two years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Fredonia Books (NL) (January 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589630971
• ISBN-13: 978-1589630970
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,427,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meet the real creative power within which you live, October 9, 2003

By 

Peter M. Johngren (Hartwick, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Accepting the Universe (Paperback)

If, on the one hand, you are tired of the pap being dispensed by the world's religions and are beginning to more than suspect that man made God in his own image, but on the other hand, you are awe-struck by the raw power and beauty of Nature and the Universe, then this just might be the book for you. My only regret is that I waited until age 62 to discover this gem. With humor, insight, and a firm grounding in science, John Burroughs gives us all reason to rejoice in the wonder of Nature and our rightful place in it.

4.0 out of 5 stars Burroughs Deep, August 25, 2008

By 

Mark E (Maine) - See all my reviews

I've read only a few chapters of "Accepting the Universe," and am enjoying it a great deal. Though it may seem perfunctory to say so, Burroughs was clearly a thoughtful man, and what I mean is that he clearly pursued his inquiries into the nature of the universe, or the universe of nature, to the point where he could pursue them no further. He had a keen understanding of the impartiality of nature. My only complaint thus far is that he called the universe "very good" even while arguing that good and evil are not inherent in anything.