[W]e are prone to forget that the planet may be measured by man, but not according to man.
Interpretation
This quote highlights that while humans can measure and quantify the planet, our perspectives and interpretations do not define its true nature.
Eduard Suess emphasizes the distinction between human measurements of the Earth and the intrinsic qualities of the planet itself. This statement serves as a reminder that our understanding of nature is limited by our subjective experiences and viewpoints, suggesting that the planet's essence exists independently of human perceptions.
In practice
This quote could be used in a lecture on environmental science to illustrate the limitations of human perspective in understanding nature.
I believe in a world where there are no heroes, and I've read and know humanity a lot. There are moments that I admire in a person courage, intellect, hard work. These are the qualities I admire in an intellectual, in a writer, and there are so many people who have these things.
The man whose action habitually bears the stamp of his mind is a genius, but the greatest genius is not always equal to himself, or he would cease to be human.
In nature a repulsive caterpillar turns into a lovely butterfly. But with human beings it is the other way round: a lovely butterfly turns into a repulsive caterpillar.
OUR ORDINATION: Sir Isaac Newton, 1642 β 1747 About the times of the End, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation, in the midst of much clamor and opposition.
The world is emblematic. Parts of speech are metaphors, because the whole of nature is a metaphor of the human mind.
The point of literary criticism in anthropology is not to replace research, but to find out how it is that we are persuasive.
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