What are the natural features which
make a township handsome? A river,
with its waterfalls and meadows, a lake,
a hill, a cliff, or individual rocks, a
forest, and ancient trees standing
singly. Such things are beautiful; they
have a high use which dollars and cents
never represent. If the inhabitants of a
town were wise, they would seek to
preserve these things…for such things
educate more than any hired teachers
or preachers.
-Henry David Thoreau. 1861