Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
We have not the reverent feeling for the rainbow that the savage has, because we know how it is made. We have lost as much as we gained by prying into that matter.
Interpretation
Understanding the science behind natural wonders can diminish the sense of awe they inspire.
Mark Twain's quote suggests that gaining knowledge and understanding about natural phenomena, such as rainbows, can lead to a loss of reverence and wonder. He contrasts the scientific perspective with that of 'savages,' who may marvel at the rainbow without understanding its origins, implying that ignorance can sometimes enhance our appreciation of beauty in nature.
In practice
A discussion on the beauty of rainbows at a nature workshop.
Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
The easy part of being an artist is figuring out the message that everyone else is ready to hear. The hard part is waiting for the proper lull to make the announcement.
You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.
To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.
Cultivating and conserving diversity is no luxury in our times: it is a survival imperative.
You may drive out nature with a pitchfork, yet she'll be constantly running back.
Lyric night of the lingering Indian Summer, Shadowy fields that are scentless but full of singing, Never a bird, but the passionless chant of insects, Ceaseless, insistent. The grasshopper's horn, and far-off, high in the maples, The wheel of a locust leisurely grinding the silence Under a moon waning and worn, broken, Tired with summer.
Biomimicry is innovation inspired by nature. In a society accustomed to dominating or 'improving' nature, this respectful imitation is a radically new approach, a revolution really. Unlike the Industrial Revolution, the Biomimicry Revolution introduces an era based not on what we can extract from nature, but on what we can learn from her.
Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light.
We called her Mother Earth. Because she gave birth to us, and then we sucked her dry.
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