What was any art but a mould in which to imprison for a moment the shining elusive element which is life itself - life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose.
Willa CatherRead
They ravaged neither the rivers nor the forest, and if they irrigated, they took as little water as would serve their needs. The land and all that it bore they treated with consideration; not attempting to improve it, they never desecrated it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of respecting and preserving nature rather than exploiting it.
Willa Cather reflects on a way of living in harmony with nature, highlighting a respectful approach that avoids excessive exploitation of natural resources. The quote suggests that true cultivation or enhancement of the land comes from understanding its limits and treating it with care, rather than through overbearing interference or destruction.
Themes
NatureRespectPreservationEnvironmentSustainability
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about sustainability, one might quote this to highlight the importance of preserving nature.
More from Willa Cather
All quotes →That is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great.
Willa CatherRead
Our tree became the talking tree of the fairy tale; legends and stories nestled like birds in its branches.
Willa CatherRead
Writing ought either to be the manufacture of stories for which there is a market demand - a business as safe and commendable as making soap or breakfast foods - or it should be an art, which is always a search for something for which there is no market demand, something new and untried, where the values are intrinsic and have nothing to do with standardized values.
Willa CatherRead
The air and the earth interpenetrated in the warm gusts of spring; the soil was full of sunlight, and the sunlight full of red dust. The air one breathed was saturated with earthy smells, and the grass under foot had a reflection of the blue sky in it.
Willa CatherRead
This is reality, whether you like it or not--all those frivolities of summer, the light and shadow, the living mask of green that trembled over everything, they were lies, and this is what was underneath. This is the truth.
Willa CatherRead
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