Don't just live the length of your life - live the width of it as well.
Diane AckermanRead
We try to exile ourselves more and more from nature - not always consciously: We build houses; we dismiss nature; nature has to be outside, because we're inside. God forbid something like a cockroach comes inside, or some dust.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights humanity's tendency to distance ourselves from nature while seeking comfort indoors.
In this quote, Diane Ackerman reflects on how modern society has increasingly separated itself from the natural world. We create physical barriers, such as houses, that keep nature out, resulting in a disconnect from the environment that surrounds us. This estrangement is often unconscious, as we prioritize indoor comfort and cleanliness over the beauty and wildness of nature, which we fear might intrude upon our man-made spaces.
Themes
NatureDisconnectSocietyEnvironmentComfort
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about environmental awareness, one could use this quote to emphasize the need for reconnection with nature.
More from Diane Ackerman
All quotes →We ogle plants and animals up close on television, the Internet and in the movies. We may not worship the animals we see, but we still regard them as necessary physical and spiritual companions. Technological nature can't completely satisfy that yearning.
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Because IQ tests favor memory skills and logic, overlooking artistic creativity, insight, resiliency, emotional reserves, sensory gifts, and life experience, they can't really predict success, let alone satisfaction.
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American writer_x000D_ _x000D_ 1803-1882_x000D_ _x000D_ Play is our brain's favorite way of learning.
Diane AckermanRead
In rare moments of deep play, we can lay aside our sense of self, shed time's continuum, ignore pain, and sit quietly in the absolute present, watching the world's ordinary miracles. No mind or heart hobbles. No analyzing or explaining. No questing for logic. No promises. No goals. No relationships. No worry. One is completely open to whatever drama may unfold.
Diane AckermanRead
There is a way of beholding nature which is a form of prayer, a way of minding something with such clarity and aliveness that the rest of the world recedes. It . . . gives the brain a small vacation.
Diane AckermanRead
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