Quotes by John Wesley Powell
“Gentlemen, you are piling up a heritage of conflict and litigation over water rights, for there is not sufficient water to supply these lands.”— John Wesley Powell
“We are three quarters of a mile in the depths of the earth, and the great river shrinks into insignificance as it dashes its angry waves against the walls and cliffs that rise to the world above.”— John Wesley Powell
“The glories and the beauties of form, color, and sound unite in the Grand Canyon.”— John Wesley Powell
“The men are in fine spirits, and we start down the unknown river with a cheer.”— John Wesley Powell
“The mountains are fountains of men as well as of rivers, of glaciers, of fertile soil.”— John Wesley Powell
“You cannot see the Grand Canyon in one view... but to see it you have to toil from month to month through its labyrinths.”— John Wesley Powell
“What a world of grandeur and beauty is revealed to the explorer who has the courage to penetrate the mysteries of the great abyss!”— John Wesley Powell
“In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world.”— John Wesley Powell
“The walls are resonant with majestic sounds, for the roaring waters of the river are echoed from cliff to cliff.”— John Wesley Powell
“The relief of the Grand Canyon is the most sublime and awe-inspiring spectacle that the world has to show.”— John Wesley Powell
“Years ago I was a schoolmaster in the Illinois bottom. The river was to me a landmark, a boundary, a destiny.”— John Wesley Powell
“The rains of the last few days have raised the river, and the rapids are more fearful than ever.”— John Wesley Powell
“The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself.”— John Wesley Powell
“Forms and structures are not chaotic outlines of continents and mountains, but belong to a system of genesis and evolution.”— John Wesley Powell