John Muir in:John Muir and the March 26, 1872, Owens Valley Earthquake, ICS Home - University of California, Santa Barbara, 1872

At half-past two o'clock of a moonlit morning in March, I was awakened by a tremendous earthquake, and though I hadn't ever before enjoyed a storm of this sort, the strange thrilling motion could not be mistaken, and I ran out of my cabin, both glad and frightened, shouting, "A noble earthquake! A noble earthquake" feeling sure I was going to learn something.

— John Muir on Earthquake

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "At half-past two o'clock of a moonlit morning in March, I was awakened by a tremendous earthquake, and though I hadn't ever before enjoyed a storm of this sort, the strange thrilling motion could not be mistaken, and I ran out of my cabin, both glad and frightened, shouting, "A noble earthquake! A noble earthquake" feeling sure I was going to learn something." in the context of "John Muir in:John Muir and the March 26, 1872, Owens Valley Earthquake, ICS Home - University of California, Santa Barbara, 1872" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Earthquake" (Quotes: (sorted alphabetically by author/source)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
John Muir

About John Muir

John Muir (21 April 1838 – 24 December 1914) was a Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada of California, have been read by millions. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is a prominent American conservation organization.