Don't just live the length of your life - live the width of it as well.
Diane AckermanRead
Nature is more like a seesaw than a crystal, a never-ending conga line of bold moves and corrections.
Interpretation
Nature is dynamic and constantly changing, just like a seesaw, rather than being static and unchanging like a crystal.
In this quote, Diane Ackerman illustrates the idea that nature is not a fixed entity but a fluid and ever-evolving system, likening it to a seesaw that requires constant adjustments and movements to maintain balance. This reflects the intricate interplay of forces in the environment and suggests that adaptability is key to understanding and engaging with the natural world.
In practice
This quote is perfect for an environmental awareness speech to highlight the importance of adaptability in nature.
Don't just live the length of your life - live the width of it as well.
We try to exile ourselves more and more from nature - not always consciously: We build houses; we dismiss nature; nature has to be outside, because we're inside. God forbid something like a cockroach comes inside, or some dust.
We ogle plants and animals up close on television, the Internet and in the movies. We may not worship the animals we see, but we still regard them as necessary physical and spiritual companions. Technological nature can't completely satisfy that yearning.
Because IQ tests favor memory skills and logic, overlooking artistic creativity, insight, resiliency, emotional reserves, sensory gifts, and life experience, they can't really predict success, let alone satisfaction.
American writer_x000D_ _x000D_ 1803-1882_x000D_ _x000D_ Play is our brain's favorite way of learning.
In rare moments of deep play, we can lay aside our sense of self, shed time's continuum, ignore pain, and sit quietly in the absolute present, watching the world's ordinary miracles. No mind or heart hobbles. No analyzing or explaining. No questing for logic. No promises. No goals. No relationships. No worry. One is completely open to whatever drama may unfold.
Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time.
Nature knows best how to organise.
Are we to regard the world of nature simply as a storehouse to be robbed for the immediate benefit of man? ... Does man have any responsibility for the preservation of a decent balance in nature, for the preservation of rare species, or even for the indefinite continuance of his race?
Nature, with equal mind, Sees all her sons at play, Sees man control the wind, The wind sweep man away.
As a child, I used to have a secret dread - and a recurring nightmare - of the whole world becoming city, being covered with cement and buildings and streets. No more country. No more woods.
I saw for the first time the earth's shape. I could easily see the shores of continents, islands, great rivers, folds of the terrain, large bodies of water. The horizon is dark blue, smoothly turning to black. . . the feelings which filled me I can express with one word-joy.
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