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.
John MuirRead
Beetles and butterflies are sometimes restricted to small areas. Each mountain in a range, and even the different zones of a mountain, may have its own peculiar species. But the house-fly seems to be everywhere. I wonder if any island in mid-ocean is flyless.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the diverse and localized species of insects compared to the ubiquitous house-fly, highlighting nature's uniqueness and adaptability.
John Muir's quote emphasizes the rich biodiversity found in specific environments, where certain species thrive and adapt to unique ecological niches, as seen in the varied insects found on mountains. In contrast, the house-fly represents adaptability and resilience, existing in nearly every environment, symbolizing how some species can thrive universally regardless of regional differences in habitats.
Themes
BiodiversityNatureSpeciesAdaptabilityInsects
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a presentation about biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics.
More from John Muir
All quotes →When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.
John MuirRead
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".
John MuirRead
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.
John MuirRead
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.
John MuirRead
...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.
John MuirRead
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