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
Just think: in all the clean, beautiful reaches of the solar system, our planet alone is a blot; our planet alone has death.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the uniqueness of Earth in the universe, highlighting its imperfections and the inevitability of death.
Annie Dillard's quote invites us to consider the perspective of our planet within the vastness of the solar system, emphasizing that while it is part of a beautiful cosmic landscape, it is also marked by the reality of mortality. By recognizing Earth's flaws and the presence of death, Dillard provokes reflection on the significance of life in a universe that is otherwise pristine and indifferent to human suffering.
Themes
EarthMortalityBeautyUniverseReflection
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about environmental conservation to highlight our responsibility towards the planet.
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
It is difficult to undo our own damage, and to recall to our presence that which we have asked to leave. It is hard to desecrate a grove and change your mind. The very holy mountains are keeping mum. We doused the burning bush and cannot rekindle it; we are lighting matches in vain under every green tree.
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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