When some portion of the biosphere is rather unpopular with the human race-a crocodile, a dandelion, a stony valley, a snowstorm, an odd-shaped flint-there are three sorts of human being who are particularly likely still to see point in it and befriend it. They are poets, scientists and children. Inside each of us, I suggest, representatives of all these groups can be found.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that poets, scientists, and children find value in nature even when it is not popular.
Mary Midgley's quote highlights the intrinsic appreciation for the natural world that exists within poets, scientists, and children. While certain aspects of nature may be overlooked or deemed unappealing by society, these groups possess the ability to recognize beauty and significance in all elements of the biosphere. Midgley suggests that these traits are not just exclusive to these groups but are present in everyone, urging a deeper connection and understanding of nature.
In practice
During a nature documentary screening, to emphasize the importance of every creature.
Evolution is the creation-myth of our age. By telling us our origin it shapes our views of what we are. It influences not just our thought, but our feelings and actions too, in a way which goes far beyond its official function as a biological theory.
Hubris calls for nemesis, and in one form or another it's going to get it, not as a punishment from outside but as the completion of a pattern already started.
Take a trip to the forest and experience the greatness of getting on your knees and picking your own food and going home... and eating it.
Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I but when the trees bow down their heads, the wind is passing by.
Iris from sea brings wind or mighty rain.
Today on the way home, it snows. Big, soft caressing flakes fall onto our skin like cold moths; the air fills with feathers.
The teeming Autumn big with rich increase, bearing the wanton burden of the prime like widowed wombs after their lords decease.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to live on this beautiful and astonishing planet Earth. In the morning, I wake up with a sense of gratitude.
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