The Strength in Struggle: John Burroughs and the Philosophy of Overcoming
John Burroughs, the renowned American naturalist and essayist who lived from 1837 to 1921, offered the world a profound observation with his statement that “We are made strong by what we overcome.” This simple yet powerful declaration emerged from a man whose entire life was dedicated to understanding nature’s patterns, human resilience, and the quiet wisdom that emerges from careful observation of the world. Burroughs spent decades walking through forests, observing wildlife, and reflecting on humanity’s place within the natural order, and this quote encapsulates his philosophy that struggle and adversity are not merely obstacles to endure but essential ingredients in the development of character and strength.
To understand the context of this quote, one must appreciate the era in which Burroughs was writing and thinking. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were times of rapid industrialization and urbanization in America, periods when many people were becoming increasingly disconnected from nature and the lessons it offered. Burroughs found himself writing during an age of scientific advancement and philosophical questioning, when ideas about progress, human nature, and what it meant to live a meaningful life were all being challenged and reconsidered. His work as a naturalist and writer was partly motivated by a desire to reconnect American readers with the natural world and, through that connection, to help them understand fundamental truths about existence that modern civilization often obscured.
Born in Roxbury, New York, John Burroughs grew up on a rural farm, an experience that fundamentally shaped his perspective on life and nature. Unlike many of his contemporaries who experienced nature through urban parks or recreational pursuits, Burroughs’s early years were steeped in the daily realities of farm work—the labor, the seasons, the struggles against weather and circumstance. His father was a farmer, and young John spent his formative years learning to work the land, observing wildlife in its natural habitat, and developing an intimate knowledge of the landscape that would define his writing. In his teenage years, Burroughs developed an intense love of reading and learning, often by candlelight after his farm duties were complete, demonstrating the determination and intellectual curiosity that would characterize his entire life.
Burroughs’s career took him through various occupations before he found his true calling as a writer and naturalist. He worked as a teacher, a banker, and even briefly as a government employee, but he continually felt drawn back to nature and to writing about his observations. What makes his journey particularly interesting is that he didn’t achieve significant literary success until relatively late in life. His first collection of essays, “Wake-Robin,” was published in 1871 when he was already in his mid-thirties, and it would take years of persistent writing and publishing before he achieved widespread recognition. This delayed success is itself a testament to the philosophy embedded in his famous quote—Burroughs overcame numerous rejections, financial struggles, and periods of self-doubt to become one of the most influential nature writers of his age. He eventually became a prolific author, publishing over twenty books and hundreds of essays that influenced generations of readers and helped establish the field of nature writing as a legitimate literary genre.
Lesser-known aspects of Burroughs’s life add even more depth to the philosophy behind his words. Few people realize that Burroughs was an accomplished carpenter and built much of his own furniture, a skill that connected him to the practical, hands-on wisdom he valued so highly. He was also a committed and thoughtful critic of what he saw as overly sentimental or inaccurate nature writing by other authors, which occasionally made him unpopular in literary circles but demonstrated his commitment to truth and honest observation. Additionally, Burroughs maintained close friendships with some of America’s most influential figures, including Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford, yet he remained personally humble and devoted to his simple life in the countryside. He was known to be somewhat curmudgeonly in his later years, concerned about what he perceived as the excesses of modern civilization, yet he continued to write with passion and insight about nature’s lessons for human life.
The quote “We are made strong by what we overcome” has resonated throughout American culture in ways that Burroughs likely never anticipated. It appears frequently in motivational literature, self-help books, and inspirational speaking, often attributed to him though sometimes misattributed to other thinkers. The phrase has become particularly prominent in contexts dealing with personal development, recovery from addiction, mental health awareness, and resilience training. In contemporary culture, the quote has found new relevance in discussions about trauma recovery and post-traumatic growth, the psychological phenomenon where people who have endured significant hardship often report increased psychological strength and resilience. Sports psychology has embraced Burroughs’s philosophy, with athletes and coaches using it to frame training and competition not merely as pursuits of victory but as crucibles for developing character and resilience.
The enduring power of this quote lies in its universal truth and its balanced perspective on suffering. Unlike some motivational phrases that seem to minimize the reality of pain or suggest that struggle should be celebrated, Burroughs’s observation acknowledges that overcoming difficulties is what builds strength. He does not suggest that hardship is good in itself or that we should seek out suffering, but rather that the natural outcome of navigating through challenges is the development of strength. This distinction makes the quote particularly meaningful for people facing real difficulties—it offers neither false comfort nor grim resignation, but instead a framework for understanding their experience as potentially transformative.