Muir: Wilderness

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Muir: Wilderness

This new painting features a quote by John Muir. As with many things on the internet, this quote “Wilderness is Necessity” is currently attributed incorrectly to author Edward Abbey. However, the Scottish-born John Muir said it first since he passed in 1917, which was a full decade before Edward Abbey was even born. I found this quote within a larger context from his famous book Our National Parks which was written in 1901, and caught the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.”

I couldn’t agree more with Muir. Resetting and recharging in nature is arguably even more important today, 123+ years since Muir first wrote about it. Those of us deeply entrenched in concrete jungles, suffering from “tech neck” and staying indoors too much can all take a lesson from this man wise beyond his years.

Artwork by Julie Leidel, 2024