What is important is the moment of opening a life and feeling it touch--with an electric hiss and cry--this speckled mineral sphere, our present world.
Annie DillardRead
Admire the world for never ending on you -- as you would an opponent, without taking your eyes away from him, or walking away.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of maintaining focus and admiration for the world, likening it to the respect given to an opponent in a game.
Annie Dillard's quote suggests that we should appreciate the world around us with unwavering attention, just as one respects a worthy opponent in a competition. This admiration requires not only a deep engagement but also a commitment to understanding and observing the intricacies of our surroundings, rather than passively observing them.
Themes
AdmirationWorldFocusEngagementOpponent
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about environmental conservation, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of respecting and observing nature.
More from Annie Dillard
All quotes βGeography is the key, the crucial accident of birth. A piece of protein could be a snail, a sea lion, or a systems analyst, but it had to start somewhere. This is not science; it is merely metaphor. And the landscape in which the protein "starts" shapes its end as surely as bowls shape water.
Annie DillardRead
Buddhism notes that it is always a mistake to think your soul can go it alone.
Annie DillardRead
Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.
Annie DillardRead
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Annie DillardRead
To crank myself up I stood on a jack and ran myself up. I tightened myself like a bolt. I inserted myself in a vise-clamp and wound the handle till the pressure built. I drank coffee in titrated doses. It was a tricky business, requiring the finely tuned judgment of a skilled anesthesiologist. There was a tiny range within which coffee was effective, short of which it was useless, and beyond which, fatal.
Annie DillardRead
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