It is absurd to say that there are neither ruins nor curiosities in America when they have their mothers and their manners.
Oscar WildeRead
Perhaps that is part of the animals' role among us, to awaken humility, to turn our minds back to the mystery of things, and open our hearts to that most impractical of hopes in which all creation speaks as one.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on how animals can teach us humility and connect us to the deeper mysteries of life.
Matthew Scully's quote emphasizes the significance of animals in our lives, suggesting that their presence can inspire us to be more humble and to reconsider the profound mysteries of existence. It advocates for a deeper emotional connection to all living beings and highlights the hope that arises when we recognize our shared existence within the broader fabric of creation.
In practice
During a speech on environmental conservation, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of all living beings.
It is absurd to say that there are neither ruins nor curiosities in America when they have their mothers and their manners.
While a modicum of consciousness may have had survivalist properties during an immemorial chapter of our evolution – so one theory goes – this faculty soon enough became a seditious agent working against us … we need to hamper our consciousness for all we are worth or it will impose upon us a too clear vision of what we do not want to see … Consciousness has forced us into the paradoxical position of striving to be unself-conscious of what we are – hunks of spoiling flesh on disintegrating bones
My friend Adele describes fundamentalism as holding so tightly to your beliefs that your fingernails leave imprints on the palm of your hand... I think she's right. I was a fundamentalist not because of the beliefs I held but because of how I held them: with a death grip. It would take God himself to finally pry them out of my hands. (p.17-18)
To adore the conqueror, who now beholds Cherub and seraph rolling in the flood.
Tension without cosmic pulsation to animate it is the transition to nothingness
Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying.
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