To a person sitting quietly at home, Rocky Mountain traveling, like Rocky Mountain scenery, must seem very monotonous; but not so to me, to whom the pure, dry mountain air is the elixir of life. Isabella Bird More Quotes by Isabella Bird More Quotes From Isabella Bird I have just dropped into the very place I have been seeking, but in everything it exceeds all my dreams. Isabella Bird exceed has-beens dream Surely one advantage of traveling is that, while it removes much prejudice against foreigners and their customs, it intensifies tenfold one's appreciation of the good at home. Isabella Bird home appreciation travel I have found a dream of beauty at which one might look all one's life and sigh. Isabella Bird dream might looks Japan offers as much novelty perhaps as an excursion to another planet. Isabella Bird novelty planets japan Americans specially love superlatives. The phrases 'biggest in the world,' 'finest in the world,' are on all lips. Isabella Bird united-states phrases world Everybody seized upon a bit of the beast. The Sultan claimed the liver, which, when dried and powdered, is worth twice its weight in gold as medicine. Isabella Bird medicine weight gold The 'almighty dollar' is the true divinity, and its worship is universal. Isabella Bird divinity dollars money [On Malaysia:] Mr. Darwin says so truly that a visit to the tropics (and such tropics) is like a visit to a new planet. This new wonder-world, so enchanting, tantalising, intoxicating, makes me despair, for I cannot make you see what I am seeing! Isabella Bird despair world travel The traveller who aspires to reach the highlands of Tibet from Kashmir cannot be borne along in a carriage or hill-cart. For much of the way, he is limited to a foot pace, and if he has regard to his horse, he walks down all rugged and steep descents, which are many, and dismounts at most bridges. Isabella Bird down kashmir horse way Other lands may have their charms, and the sunny skies of other climes may be regretted, but it is with pride and gladness that the wanderer sets foot again on British soil, thanking God for the religion and the liberty which have made this weather-beaten island in a northern sea to be the light and glory of the world. Isabella Bird light god sea religion Americans specially love superlatives. The phrases 'biggest in the world,' 'finest in the world,' are on all lips. Unless President Hayes is a strong man, they will soon come to boast that their government is composed of the 'biggest scoundrels' in the world. Isabella Bird man government love world Can anything be more grotesque and barbarous than our 'florists' bouquets,' a series of concentric rings of flowers of divers colours, bordered by maidenhair and a piece of stiff lace paper, in which stems, leaves, and even petals are brutally crushed, and the grace and individuality of each flower systematically destroyed? Isabella Bird flowers more flower grace Grandeur and sublimity, not softness, are the features of Estes Park. The glades which begin so softly are soon lost in the dark primaeval forests, with their peaks of rosy granite and their stretches of granite blocks piled and poised by nature in some mood of fury. Isabella Bird mood nature dark lost Only the long melancholy call to prayer, or the wail of women over the dead, or the barking of dogs, breaks the silence which at sunset falls as a pall over Baghdad. Isabella Bird sunset women silence prayer The word 'aloha,' in foreign use, has taken the place of every English equivalent. It is a greeting, a farewell, thanks, love, goodwill. Aloha looks at you from tidies and illuminations; it meets you on the roads and at house-doors. It is conveyed to you in letters: the air is full of it. Isabella Bird roads you thanks love The Rocky Mountains realize - nay, exceed - the dream of my childhood. It is magnificent, and the air is life-giving. Isabella Bird mountains realize childhood dream A traveller must buy his own experience, and success or failure depends mainly on personal idiosyncrasies. Isabella Bird own failure experience success Bugs are a great pest in Colorado. They come out of the earth, infest the wooden walls, and cannot be got rid of by any amount of cleanliness. Many careful housewives take their beds to pieces every week and put carbolic acid on them. Isabella Bird walls great cleanliness earth The kimono, haori, and girdle, and even the long hanging sleeves, have only parallel seams, and these are only tacked or basted, as the garments, when washed, are taken to pieces, and each piece, after being very slightly stiffened, is stretched upon a board to dry. Isabella Bird hanging only being long Surely one advantage of traveling is that, while it removes much prejudice against foreigners and their customs, it intensifies tenfold one's appreciation of the good at home, and, above all, of the quietness and purity of English domestic life. Isabella Bird good home appreciation life
