Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species -- man -- acquired significant power to alter the nature of the world.
Rachel CarsonRead
Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.
Interpretation
Contemplating nature's beauty provides enduring strength and resilience.
Rachel Carson's quote suggests that the act of appreciating the natural world can lead to a profound sense of inner strength and resilience. By recognizing and contemplating the beauty around us, we not only find joy and inspiration but also tap into a wellspring of strength that can sustain us throughout our lives.
In practice
In a speech about mental health, this quote can inspire individuals to seek solace in nature.
Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species -- man -- acquired significant power to alter the nature of the world.
As crude a weapon as the cave man's club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life - a fabric on the one hand delicate and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways. These extraordinary capacities of life have been ignored by the practitioners of chemical control who have brought to their task no "high-minded orientation," no humility before the vast forces with which they tamper.
Why should we tolerate a diet of weak poisons, a home in insipid surroundings, a circle of acquaintances who are not quite our enemies, the noise of motors with just enough relief to prevent insanity? Who would want to live in a world which is just not quite fatal?
To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.
We cannot have peace among men whose hearts find delight in killing any living creature.
Until we have courage to recognize cruelty for what it is - whether its victim is human or animal - we cannot expect things to be much better in the world. There can be no double standard. We cannot have peace among men whose hearts find delight in killing any living creature. By every act that glorifies or even tolerates such moronic delight in killing, we set back the progress of humanity.
Well, in some ways we're not successful at all. We're destroying our home. That's not a bit successful.
Our nation's continued prosperity hinges on our ability to solve environmental problems and sustain the natural resources on which we all depend.
All that man needs for health and healing has been provided by God in nature, the Challenge of science is to find it.
White in the moon the long road lies.
The facts of nature cannot in the long run be violated. Penetrating and seeping through everything like water, they will undermine any system that fails to take account of them, and sooner or later they will bring about its downfall. But an authority wise enough in its statesmanship to give sufficient free play to nature - of which spirit is a part - need fear no premature decline.
To drown a river beneath its own impounded water, by damming, is to kill what it was and to settle for something else. When the damming happens without good reason . . . then it's a tragedy of diminishment for the whole planet, a loss of one more wild thing, leaving Earth just a little flatter and tamer and simpler and uglier than before.
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