Top 70 John Lubbock Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work.”

— John Lubbock

Featured in: Happiness Quotes, Wellness Quotes, Wisdom Quotes, Letting Go Quotes, Worry Quotes

2. “What we see depends mainly on what we look for.”

— John Lubbock

Featured in: Perspective Quotes, Being Happy Quotes, Vision Quotes

3. “In this world we do not see things as they are. We see them as we are, because what we see depends mainly on what we are looking for.”

— John Lubbock

4. “Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”

— John Lubbock

5. “We may sit in our library and yet be in all quarters of the earth.”

— John Lubbock

Featured in: Reading Quotes

6. “Fresh air is as good for the mind as for the body. Nature always seems trying to talk to us as if she had some great secret to tell. And so she has.”

— John Lubbock

7. “Rest is by no means a waste of time.”

— John Lubbock

8. “Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.”

— John Lubbock

9. “Happiness is a thing to be practiced, like the violin.”

— John Lubbock

10. “The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn.”

— John Lubbock

11. “The idle man does not know what it is to enjoy rest, for he has not earned it.”

— John Lubbock

12. “A Cheerful friend is like a sunny day, which sheds its brightness on all around.”

— John Lubbock

13. “Exercise of the muscles keeps the body in health, and exercise of the brain brings peace of mind.”

— John Lubbock

14. “In truth, people can generally make time for what they choose to do; it is not really the time but the will that is wanting.”

— John Lubbock

15. “Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of Heaven.”

— John Lubbock

16. “Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements in human happiness. It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life.”

— John Lubbock

17. “Be cautious, but not too cautious; do not be too much afraid of making a mistake; a man who never makes a mistake will make nothing.”

— John Lubbock

18. “Your character will be what you yourself choose to make it.”

— John Lubbock

19. “Reading and writing, arithmetic and grammar do not constitute education, any more than a knife, fork and spoon constitute a dinner.”

— John Lubbock

20. “A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered. C. S. LEWIS, Out of the Silent Planet True pleasures are paid for in advance; false pleasures afterwards, with heavy and compound interest.”

— John Lubbock

21. “Don’t be afraid of showing affection. Be warm and tender, thoughtful and affectionate. Men are more helped by sympathy than by service. Love is more than money, and a kind word will give more pleasure than a present.”

— John Lubbock

22. “Everyone must have felt that a cheerful friend is like a sunny day, which sheds its brightness on all around; and most of us can, as we choose, make of this world either a palace or a prison.”

— John Lubbock

23. “We often hear of people breaking down from overwork, but in nine out of ten they are really suffering from worry or anxiety.”

— John Lubbock

24. “Endurance is a much better test of character than any single act of heroism, however noble.”

— John Lubbock

25. “Happiness is a condition of mind not a result of circumstances.”

— John Lubbock

26. “All those who love Nature she loves in return, and will richly reward, not perhaps with the good things, as they are commonly called, but with the best things of this world-not with money and titles, horses and carriages, but with bright and happy thoughts, contentment and peace of mind.”

— John Lubbock

27. “Our duty is to believe that for which we have sufficient evidence, and to suspend our judgment when we have not.”

— John Lubbock

28. “To be happy ourselves is a most effectual contribution to the happiness of others.”

— John Lubbock

29. “We must not sit still and look for miracles; up and doing, and the Lord will be with thee.”

— John Lubbock

30. “Our own happiness ought not to be our main objective in life.”

— John Lubbock

31. “A wise system of education will at last teach us how little man yet knows, how much he has still to learn.”

— John Lubbock

32. “We must be careful what we read, and not, like the sailors of Ulysses, take bags of wind for sacks of treasure.”

— John Lubbock

33. “Though it is a great mistake to make friends of the wicked and foolish, it is unwise to make enemies of them, for they are very numerous.”

— John Lubbock

34. “Life is a great gift, and as we reach years of discretion, most of us naturally ask ourselves what should be the main object of our existence.”

— John Lubbock

35. “Happy indeed is the naturalist: to him the seasons come round like old friends; to him the birds sing: as he walks along, the flowers stretch out from the hedges, or look up from the ground, and as each year fades away, he looks back on a fresh store of happy memories.”

— John Lubbock

36. “Before buying anything, it is well to ask if one could do without it.”

— John Lubbock

37. “Those who have not distinguished themselves at school need not on that account be discouraged. the greatest minds do not necessarily ripen the quickest.”

— John Lubbock

38. “Here are the three great questions which in life we have over and over again to answer: Is it right or wrong? Is it true or false? Is it beautiful or ugly? Our education ought to help us to answer these questions.”

— John Lubbock

39. “To render ourselves insensible to pain we must forfeit also the possibilities of happiness.”

— John Lubbock

40. “Great battles are really won before they are actually fought. To control our passions we must govern our habits, and keep watch over ourselves in the small details of everyday life.”

— John Lubbock

41. “Many savage nations worship trees, and I really think my first feeling would be one of delight and interest rather than of surprise, if some day when I am alone in the woods one of the trees were to speak to me.”

— John Lubbock

42. “False pleasures come from without and are imperfect: happiness is internal and our own.”

— John Lubbock

43. “Many a blessing has been recognized too late.”

— John Lubbock

44. “It always seems to be raining harder than it really is when you look at the weather through the window.”

— John Lubbock

45. “It is sad, indeed, to see how man wastes his opportunities. How many could be made happy, with the blessings which are recklessly wasted or thrown away.”

— John Lubbock

46. “A kind word will give more pleasure than a present.”

— John Lubbock

47. “When important decisions have to be taken, the natural anxiety to come to a right decision will often keep you awake. Nothing, however, is more conducive to healthful sleep than plenty of open air.”

— John Lubbock

48. “How little our libraries cost us as compared with our liquor cellars.”

— John Lubbock

49. “If you have the least doubt about it, do not marry.”

— John Lubbock

50. “A crowd is not necessarily company, but neither need it necessarily prevent thought or disturb peace of mind.”

— John Lubbock