Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species -- man -- acquired significant power to alter the nature of the world.
Rachel CarsonRead
Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Contemplating nature's beauty provides enduring strength and resilience.
Rachel Carson's quote suggests that the act of appreciating the natural world can lead to a profound sense of inner strength and resilience. By recognizing and contemplating the beauty around us, we not only find joy and inspiration but also tap into a wellspring of strength that can sustain us throughout our lives.
Themes
NatureStrengthBeautyResilienceLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about mental health, this quote can inspire individuals to seek solace in nature.
More from Rachel Carson
All quotes βAs crude a weapon as the cave man's club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life - a fabric on the one hand delicate and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways. These extraordinary capacities of life have been ignored by the practitioners of chemical control who have brought to their task no "high-minded orientation," no humility before the vast forces with which they tamper.
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Why should we tolerate a diet of weak poisons, a home in insipid surroundings, a circle of acquaintances who are not quite our enemies, the noise of motors with just enough relief to prevent insanity? Who would want to live in a world which is just not quite fatal?
Rachel CarsonRead
To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.
Rachel CarsonRead
We cannot have peace among men whose hearts find delight in killing any living creature.
Rachel CarsonRead
Until we have courage to recognize cruelty for what it is - whether its victim is human or animal - we cannot expect things to be much better in the world. There can be no double standard. We cannot have peace among men whose hearts find delight in killing any living creature. By every act that glorifies or even tolerates such moronic delight in killing, we set back the progress of humanity.
Rachel CarsonRead
Similar quotes
The vegetable life does not content itself with casting from the flower or the tree a single seed, but it fills the air and earth with a prodigality of seeds, that, if thousands perish, thousands may plant themselves, that hundreds may come up, that tens may live to maturity; that, at least one may replace the parent.
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I'd like to see the giant squid. Nobody has ever seen one. I could tell you people who have spent thousands and thousands of pounds trying to see giant squid. I mean, we know they exist because we have seen dead ones. But I have never seen a living one. Nor has anybody else.
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Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift.
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If wilderness is outlawed, only outlaws can save wilderness.
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I will follow my instincts, be myself for good or ill, and see what will be the upshot.
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The fruit tasted foreign but indigenous, like sunlight a tree had changed through patience.
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