The original writer is not he who refrains from imitating others, but he who can be imitated by none.
Franois-Ren De ChateaubriandRead
Forests were the first temples of the Divinity, and it is in the forests that men have grasped the first idea of architecture.
Interpretation
Forests inspired early human architecture and spirituality.
This quote emphasizes the profound connection between humans and nature, suggesting that forests played a crucial role in shaping early human thoughts on divinity and architectural design. By referring to forests as the 'first temples', it highlights the sacredness people attributed to these natural environments and how they influenced human creativity and spirituality.
In practice
During a nature retreat, I shared a quote about forests as temples to inspire reflection on our connection with nature.
The original writer is not he who refrains from imitating others, but he who can be imitated by none.
A moral character is attached to autumnal scenes; the leaves falling like our years, the flowers fading like our hours, the clouds fleeting like our illusions, the light diminishing like our intelligence, the sun growing colder like our affections, the rivers becoming frozen like our lives--all bear secret relations to our destinies.
Every man carries within himself a world made up of all that he has seen and loved; and it is to this world that he returns, incessantly, though he may pass through and seem to inhabit a world quite foreign to it.
A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which.
It is possible, I think, to say that... a Christian agriculture [is] formed upon the understanding that it is sinful for people to misuse or destroy what they did not make. The Creation is a unique, irreplaceable gift, therefore to be used with humility, respect, and skill.
Yes, the natural world is the first and primary Bible. We have not honored it, so how could we, or would we, know how to honor and properly use the second Bible, when it was written.
The divine communicates to us primarily through the language of the natural world. Not to hear the natural world is not to hear the divine.
Nature is more like a seesaw than a crystal, a never-ending conga line of bold moves and corrections.
What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?
If we all used clotheslines, we could save 30 million tons of coal a year, or shut down 15 nuclear power plants. And you don't have to wait to start. Yours could be up by this afternoon. To be specific, buy 50 feet of clothesline and a $3 bag of clothespins and become a solar energy pioneer.
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