The trouble with righting some wrongs is that it makes the remaining ones seem even more unbearable.
A. A. GillRead
If the world were to end tomorrow and we could choose to save only one thing as the explanation and memorial to who we were, then we couldn't do better than the Natural History Museum, although it wouldn't contain a single human. The systematic Linnean order, the vast inquisitiveness and range of collated knowledge and beauty would tell all that is the best of us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of nature and knowledge, suggesting that they reflect the best aspects of humanity.
A. A. Gill suggests that if humanity were to leave behind a legacy, the Natural History Museum would represent our essence better than any human creation. This museum embodies the organized beauty and knowledge of the natural world, showcasing human curiosity and our relationship with nature, even though it is devoid of human presence. It serves as a testament to what we value and cherish about our existence.
Themes
NatureKnowledgeLegacyLegacy Of HumanityMuseum
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of preserving natural history and biodiversity.
More from A. A. Gill
All quotes →Sport is how poor kids from poor countries pass through the eye of the needle to riches and recognition.
A. A. GillRead
Being able to afford everything you desire is not, by any means, the worst thing that can happen to you. But, depressingly, and more profoundly, neither is it the best.
A. A. GillRead
America didn’t bypass or escape civilization. It did something far more profound, far cleverer: it simply changed what civilization could be.
A. A. GillRead
Celebrity is a national drama whose characters' parts and plots are written by the tabloids, gossip columnists, websites and interactive buttons. The famous don't actually have to turn up to their own lives at all.
A. A. GillRead
Trying to learn to be a good man is like learning to play tennis against a wall. You are only a good man - a competent, capable, interesting and lovable man - when you're doing it for, or with, other people.
A. A. GillRead
Similar quotes
If we do not act to curb climate change immediately, we will leave our children and grandchildren an unrecognizable planetIt is the poor, those least responsible for climate change and least able to afford adaptation, who would suffer the most.
Jim Yong KimRead
Well-apparel'd April on the heel_x000D_ _x000D_ Of limping Winter treads.
William ShakespeareRead
The earth is rocky and full of roots; it's clay, and it seems doomed and polluted, but you dig little holes for the ugly shriveled bulbs, throw in a handful of poppy seeds, and cover it all over, and you know you'll never see it again - it's death and clay and shrivel, and your hands are nicked from the rocks, your nails black with soil.
Anne LamottRead
We think of our land and water and human resources not as static and sterile possessions but as life giving assets to be directed by wise provisions for future days.
Franklin D. RooseveltRead
Climate change could produce a lot of misery and waste without necessarily leading to large-scale armed conflict, which depends more on ideology and bad governance than on resource scarcity.
Steven PinkerRead
We need to be realistic. There is very little we can do now to stop the ice from disappearing from the North Pole in the summer. And we probably cannot prevent the melting of the permafrost and the resulting release of methane. In addition, I fear that we may be too late to help the oceans maintain their ability to absorb carbon dioxide.
Prince CharlesRead