"Nature teaches more than she preaches. There are no sermons in stones. It is easier to get a spark out of a stone than a moral"

John Burroughs points to a deep distinction between learning by experience and being instructed by abstract principles or doctrines. Nature, in his view, is not didactic; she does not approach us with explicit lessons or sermons, nor does she insist upon any particular moral code. The reference to "no sermons in stones" emphasizes that, despite the poetic notion that stories or teachings are etched into the earth and rocks, in actuality, the processes and entities of the natural world remain indifferent to human ideas of morality and lesson-giving.

Instead, Burroughs suggests that true understanding arises from observation and direct engagement, rather than from imposed narratives. Nature’s phenomena, storms, stones, growth, decay, simply are; they function according to their own principles, not ours. We may seek to extract meaning, but what we find is often raw and elemental, rather than moralistic. By comparing the ease of striking a spark from a stone to the difficulty of finding moral guidance within it, Burroughs highlights that the physical properties of nature are accessible and practical, whereas its ethical or instructive dimension is elusive.

There is an underlying respect for the autonomy and integrity of the natural world in this perspective. Nature operates in its own way and for its own ends, unconcerned with human interests or ethics. Any moral lesson we glean is imposed by us, not embedded within the stone itself. Burroughs’s words gently guide readers to value experience, curiosity, and the acquisition of practical knowledge over rigid doctrine or sermons. Our understanding is best shaped by active engagement and reflection, not passive reception of lessons. In sum, Burroughs advocates for discovering truth in the act of living and observing rather than in prescriptive or dogmatic interpretations of what nature might be telling us.