Nature is a tropical swamp in sunshine, on whose purlieus we hear the song of summer birds, and see prismatic dewdrops, - but her interiors are terrific, full of hydras and crocodiles.
Interpretation
Nature can be simultaneously beautiful and dangerous, presenting both delight and peril.
In this quote, Ralph Waldo Emerson contrasts the enchanting aspects of nature, such as the beauty of summer birds and dewdrops, with the hidden dangers that lie within it, like hydras and crocodiles. This duality reflects the complexity of nature, showcasing how it can inspire awe and joy while also harboring threats, reminding us to appreciate both the wonders and the risks that the natural world presents.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech on environmental awareness to highlight the dual nature of ecosystems.
It is plain that there is no separate essence called courage, no cup or cell in the brain, no vessel in the heart containing drops or atoms that make or give this virtue; but it is the right or healthy state of every man, when he is free to do that which is constitutional to him to do.
Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
Tis the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakeably meant for his ear.
The world belongs to the energetic.
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
Nature in her unfathomable designs had mixed us of clay and flame, of brain and mind, that the two things hang indubitably together and determine each other's being but how or why, no mortal may ever know.
Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.
What a friend we have in a tree, the tree is the symbol of hope, self improvement and what people can do for themselves.
Nature builds things that are antifragile. In the case of evolution, nature uses disorder to grow stronger. Occasional starvation or going to the gym also makes you stronger, because you subject your body to stressors and gain from them.
The earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.
I'm an Earth ecstatic, and my creed is simple: All life is sacred, life loves life, and we are capable of improving our behavior toward one another. As basic as that is, for me it's also tonic and deeply spiritual, glorifying the smallest life-form and embracing the most distant stars.
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