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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the shared origin of all life, highlighting the equality of all creatures regardless of their perceived value.
John Muir reflects on the origin of humanity and all living beings, reminding us that we all arise from the same fundamental material of the earth. He challenges the notion of superiority among species, emphasizing that every creature, no matter how insignificant it may seem, deserves recognition as a fellow inhabitant of our world—earth-born and mortal, just like humans.
Themes
EarthNatureLifeHumanityCreaturesEquality
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about environmental conservation, one might say, 'As John Muir once stated, we are all earth-born companions, reminding us to respect all living beings.'
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
...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
When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
John MuirRead
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Racial prejudices are indication of a disturbed and potentially unstable society.
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And to say that society ought to be governed by the opinion of the wisest and best, though true, is useless. Whose opinion is to decide who are the wisest and best?
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