We can truly be successful only in the work to which we have been called.The work is not ours.It is God's, and we are privileged to be worked through by God . . .How foolish, then, for anyone to think and proclaim that he has a certain work to do for God.God may have a certain work to do through him, that is if he is sufficiently humble, but that is quite a different thing . . .
Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. Whatever the vexations and concerns of their personal lives, their thoughts can find paths that lead to inner contentment and to renewed excitement in living. Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the reassurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.
~ Rachel Carson in THE SENSE OF WONDER