None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
The birds I heard today, which, fortunately, did not come within the scope of my science, sang as freshly as if it had been the first morning of creation.
Interpretation
The beauty of nature is timeless and refreshing, transcending scientific understanding.
In this quote, Thoreau emphasizes the idea that the natural world has a beauty and freshness that exists independently of human understanding or scientific categorization. The sounds of the birds bring a sense of wonder and connection to the essence of life, reminding us that nature's simplicity and vitality can be appreciated without needing to analyze or define it.
In practice
Use this quote in a speech about the importance of preserving natural beauty.
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling and spending their lives like servants.
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.
That grand old poem called Winter
And where she went, the flowers took thickest root, As she had sow'd them with her odorous foot.
Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness.
The Forbidden Forest looked as though it had been enchanted, each tree smattered with silver, and Hagrid's cabin looked like an iced cake.
We need the discipline of magic, of consciousness-change, in order to hear and understand what the earth is saying to us. And listening to the earth, doing the rituals the land asks us for, giving back what we are asked for, will also bring us healing, expanded awareness and intensified life.
To reenchant nature is not merely to gain a new perspective for its integrity and well-being; it is to throw open the doors to a deeper level of existence.
Recognizing that sustainable development, democracy and peace are indivisible is an idea whose time has come... Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own - indeed, to embrace the whole of creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder.
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