We are blessed with a magnificent and miraculous world ocean on this planet. But we are also stressing it in ways that we are not even close to bringing under control.
Carl SafinaRead
A painting is nothing more than light reflected from the surface of a pigment-covered canvas. But a great painter can make you see the depth, make you feel the underlying emotion, make you sense the larger world. That, too, is the power of science: to sense and convey the depth and dimensionality of nature, to glance at the surface and to divine the shape of the universe around us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the ability of great artists and science to reveal deeper truths beneath the surface of reality.
Carl Safina's quote reflects on the relationship between art and science, suggesting that both possess the capacity to transform mere appearances into profound experiences. While a painting might initially seem like just colors on a canvas, a skilled painter can evoke deep emotions and insights, much like science can unveil the complexities of the universe. This highlights the intrinsic value of creativity and analytical thought in comprehending and experiencing the world more fully.
Themes
ArtPaintingScienceEmotionDepthNature
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during an art exhibition to provoke thought about the role of perception in art.
More from Carl Safina
All quotes →Whether on'e special emphasis is global warming or child welfare, the cause is the same cause. And justice comes from the same place being human comes from: compassion.
Carl SafinaRead
[About reading Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, age 14, in the back seat of his parents' sedan. I almost threw up. I got physically ill when I learned that ospreys and peregrine falcons weren't raising chicks because of what people were spraying on bugs at their farms and lawns. This was the first time I learned that humans could impact the environment with chemicals. [That a corporation would create a product that didn't operate as advertised] was shocking in a way we weren't inured to.
Carl SafinaRead
Maybe we’ll live to see sharks recover. Right now, that seems as improbable as seeing all these falcons. Hope is the ability to see how things could be better. The world of human affairs has long been a shadowy place, but always backlit by the light of hope. Each person can add hope to the world. A resigned person subtracts hope. The more people strive, the more change becomes likely.
Carl SafinaRead
The compass of compassion asks not what is good for me? but what is good? Not what is best for me but what is best. Not what is right for me but what is right. Not how much can we take? but How much ought we leave? and how much might we give? Not what is easy but what is worthy. Not what is practical but what is moral.
Carl SafinaRead
Economists don't seem to have noticed that the economy sits entirely within the ecology.
Carl SafinaRead
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I cannot write poetically, for I am no poet. I cannot make fine artistic phrases that cast light and shadow, for I am no painter. I can neither by signs nor by pantomime express my thoughts and feelings, for I am no dancer; but I can by tones, for I am a musician.
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