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.
Fog everywhere. Fog up the river where it flows among green airs and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping, and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city.... Chance people on the bridges peeping over the parapets into a nether sky of fog, with fog all round them, as if they were up in a balloon and hanging in the misty clouds.
Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.
Over and over, the economy has determined the extent of our response, but how much value does it place on breathable air, drinkable water, edible food and stable weather and climate? Surely the economy is the means to a better future, not an end in itself. Surely it must be subordinate to a rich, diverse ecosphere that sustains all life.
The silencing of the rainforests is a double deforestation, not only of trees but a deforestation of the mind's music, medicine and knowledge.
This grove, that was now so peaceful, must then have rung with cries, I thought; and even with the thought I could believe I heard it ringing still.
Birding, after all, is just a game. Going beyond that is what is important.
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