There are three stages in scientific discovery. First, people deny that it is true, then they deny that it is important; finally they credit the wrong person.
Bill BrysonRead
Every twenty minutes on the Appalachian Trail, Katz and I walked farther than the average American walks in a week. For 93 percent of all trips outside the home, for whatever distance or whatever purpose, Americans now get in a car. On average the total walking of an American these days - that's walking of all types: from car to office, from office to car, around the supermarket and shopping malls - adds up to 1.4 miles a week, barely 350 yards a day.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the stark contrast between the natural walking experience on the Appalachian Trail and the sedentary lifestyle prevalent in America.
Bill Bryson draws attention to how little the average American walks compared to the invigorating experience of hiking the Appalachian Trail. He emphasizes the growing reliance on cars for even short distances, illustrating a shift from an active lifestyle to a more sedentary one, which affects both health and the connection to nature.
Themes
WalkingNatureSedentaryLifestyleHealth
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about promoting outdoor activities for children.
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All quotes →For most of us the rules of English grammar are at best a dimly remembered thing. But even for those who make the rules, grammatical correctitude sometimes proves easier to urge than to achieve. Among the errors cited in this book are a number committed by some of the leading authorities of this century. If men such as Fowler and Bernstein and Quirk and Howard cannot always get their English right, is it reasonable to expect the rest of us to?
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Those who sniff decay in every shift of sense or alteration of usage do the language no service. Too often for such people the notion of good English has less to do with expressing ideas clearly than with making words conform to some arbitrary pattern.
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