Linnaeus.

Authors

Charles Dudley Warner, Editor

Files

Kimes Entry Number

201

Original Date

1-1-1896

William and Maymie Kimes Annotation

This essay is a brief resume of a remarkable man who rose to success and fame ""in spite of crushing poverty, and all the black brood of disappointments and discouragements that ever beset the onway of genius."" At the apex of Linnaeus' achievement, renown for his system of plant classification, ""honors of all kinds poured in on him ... every university wanted him; but he remained true to his own country and his own work."" Muir continues: ""But it is not in methods of classification, technical skill, tireless energy in making books and gathering plants. that we are to look for the secret of the marvelous influence he exerted, and which made him king of naturalists. No. Dry words and dry facts, however clear-cut and polished, will not fire hearts .... In drying plants, botanists too often dry themselves. But Linnaeus loved every living thing as his friend and brother, and his eyes never closed on the divine beauty and harmony and oneness they displayed .... For as a sun, he warmed others and inspired them; and thus warmed and inspired, they radiated like light all over the world .... And so his radiant influence works on, cheering and enlightening the world, and will go on while flowers bloom and birds sing.""

Publication

Library of the World's Best Literature. New York: R. S. Peale and J. A. Hill, Publishers, [1896, c. 1896], v. 16

Page/Column

pp. 9077-9083

Recommended Citation

Warner, Charles Dudley, "Linnaeus." (1896). John Muir: A Reading Bibliography by Kimes (Muir articles 1866-1986). 225.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmb/225