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I never met a man who was shaken by a field of identical blades of grass. An acre of poppies and a forest of spruce boggle no one's mind.
Annie Dillard
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects on the commonality of nature's beauty and the human inability to be troubled by it.

Annie Dillard's quote suggests that the vastness and uniformity found in nature, such as in fields of grass or forests, often do not provoke deep thought or disturbance in people's minds. Instead, it highlights how we may overlook the unique intricacies and beauty of the natural world simply because we are surrounded by it, indicating a broader commentary on human perception and appreciation of nature.

Themes

NatureBeautyPerceptionGrassPoppiesForest

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used during a nature walk to emphasize the beauty we often overlook.

More from Annie Dillard

What is important is the moment of opening a life and feeling it touch--with an electric hiss and cry--this speckled mineral sphere, our present world.
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Geography is the key, the crucial accident of birth. A piece of protein could be a snail, a sea lion, or a systems analyst, but it had to start somewhere. This is not science; it is merely metaphor. And the landscape in which the protein "starts" shapes its end as surely as bowls shape water.
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Buddhism notes that it is always a mistake to think your soul can go it alone.
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Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.
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It is difficult to undo our own damage, and to recall to our presence that which we have asked to leave. It is hard to desecrate a grove and change your mind. The very holy mountains are keeping mum. We doused the burning bush and cannot rekindle it; we are lighting matches in vain under every green tree.
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To crank myself up I stood on a jack and ran myself up. I tightened myself like a bolt. I inserted myself in a vise-clamp and wound the handle till the pressure built. I drank coffee in titrated doses. It was a tricky business, requiring the finely tuned judgment of a skilled anesthesiologist. There was a tiny range within which coffee was effective, short of which it was useless, and beyond which, fatal.
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