I can't read novels while I'm writing a novel, because somebody's voice creeps in.
T. C. BoyleRead
I describe myself as an environmentalist not because I'm marching in the street with placards but because I like to be in the woods by myself.
Interpretation
Being an environmentalist goes beyond activism; it's about a personal connection to nature.
T. C. Boyle's quote emphasizes that true environmentalism is not just about public demonstrations or activism but rather stems from an inner appreciation and love for nature. It suggests that personal experiences in nature can be as significant a form of environmental advocacy as marches and placards.
In practice
In a speech about climate change, you can use this quote to emphasize the importance of personal experiences with nature.
I can't read novels while I'm writing a novel, because somebody's voice creeps in.
This is the beauty of fiction. We may not like these characters, but we inhabit them.
I don't care if the audience is 600 Saul Bellows; I'm going to knock them dead with a comedy routine. I'm out there as a missionary for literature because, if people laugh and enjoy themselves, they might actually do something as bizarre as reading the book.
It's true that none of my characters are admirable. But maybe I'm primarily a satirist, and a satirist needs to hold up what's not admirable.
Sometimes if something is entertaining and amusing, people tend to think that it doesn't have the depth of something that's dramatic. I don't think that's true.
I think the way to be a writer is to experience things, certainly, and be open to things, but at some point to become dedicated to the craft of writing and to create a stable environment for that writing to occur in.
Forests in the tropics are cut to make pasture to raise beef for the American market. Our distance from the source of our food enables us to be superficially more comfortable, and distinctly more ignorant.
The sweetest hunts are stolen. To steal a hunt, either go far into the wilderness where no one has been, or else find some undiscovered place under everybody's nose
A Sustainable Agriculture does not deplete soils or people.
I go to the wild mountains where I am responsible for myself. Step by step I am making sure that I don't die.
Pay attention to the beauty surrounding you.
what sets wilderness apart in the modern day is not that it's dangerous (it's almost certainly safer than any town or road) or that it's solitary (you can, so they say, be alone in a crowded room) or full of exotic animals (there are more at the zoo). it's that five miles out in the woods you can't buy anything.
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