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What we lose in our great human exodus from the land is a rooted sense, as deep and intangible as religious faith, of why we need to hold on to the wild and beautiful places that once surrounded us.
Barbara Kingsolver
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the importance of preserving nature and our connection to it amidst modernization and urbanization.

Barbara Kingsolver's quote reflects on the profound loss we experience as humanity moves away from natural landscapes due to urban expansion and development. She suggests that this shift results in a loss of deep-rooted understanding and appreciation for the beauty and significance of the wild places that once surrounded us, which are essential for our spiritual and emotional well-being.

Themes

NaturePreservationConnectionLossBeauty

In practice

Example use cases

A speech about environmental conservation.

More from Barbara Kingsolver

Sadness is more or less like a head cold - with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.
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Children can be your heartache. But that doesn't matter, you have to go on and have them . . . it works out.
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I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.
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I did it to win love, and to prove myself capable. Not to move mountains. In my opinions, mountains don't move. They only look changed when you look down on them from great height.
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Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.
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Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It's the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else's pain is as meaningful as your own.
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