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I bade adieu to mechanical inventions, determined to devote the rest of my life to the study of the inventions of God.
John Muir
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Muir expresses his commitment to understanding the natural world over man-made technology.

In this quote, John Muir reflects on his decision to abandon mechanical inventions in favor of dedicating his life to studying nature and the creations of God. This highlights his belief in the beauty and complexity of the natural world, suggesting that the inventions of nature hold greater significance and inspiration than those of human design.

Themes

NatureInventionStudyLifeGod

In practice

Example use cases

Use this quote to inspire a discussion on the importance of appreciating nature over technology during a environmental seminar.

More from John Muir

Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.
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When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.
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As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I'll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can".
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The forests of America, however slighted by man, must have been a great delight to God; for they were the best he ever planted. The whole continent was a garden, and from the beginning, it seemed to be favored above all the other wild parks and gardens of the globe.
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From the dust of the earth, from the common elementary fund, the Creator has made Homo sapiens. From the same material he has made every other creature, however noxious and insignificant to us. They are earth-born companions and our fellow mortals.
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...full of God's thoughts, a place of peace and safety amid the most exalted grandeur and enthusiastic action, a new song, a place of beginnings abounding in first lessons of life, mountain building, eternal, invincible, unbreakable order; with sermons in stone, storms, trees, flowers, and animals brimful with humanity.
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