When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.
John MuirRead
Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Muir highlights the rejuvenating power of nature and the importance of reconnecting with the wilderness.
In this quote, John Muir emphasizes the idea that many people, burdened by the stresses of modern civilization, are rediscovering the healing and restorative qualities of nature. He suggests that true fulfillment and peace come from reconnecting with the wild and that this natural environment is an essential aspect of human existence that many have overlooked in their urbanized lives.
Themes
NatureWildnessRejuvenationMountainsHome
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about work-life balance, one could use this quote to inspire a deeper appreciation for nature.
More from John Muir
All quotes βAs long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I'll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can".
John MuirRead
The forests of America, however slighted by man, must have been a great delight to God; for they were the best he ever planted. The whole continent was a garden, and from the beginning, it seemed to be favored above all the other wild parks and gardens of the globe.
John MuirRead
From the dust of the earth, from the common elementary fund, the Creator has made Homo sapiens. From the same material he has made every other creature, however noxious and insignificant to us. They are earth-born companions and our fellow mortals.
John MuirRead
...full of God's thoughts, a place of peace and safety amid the most exalted grandeur and enthusiastic action, a new song, a place of beginnings abounding in first lessons of life, mountain building, eternal, invincible, unbreakable order; with sermons in stone, storms, trees, flowers, and animals brimful with humanity.
John MuirRead
When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
John MuirRead
Similar quotes
The Caribbean is an immense ocean that just happens to have a few islands in it. The people have an immense respect for it, awe of it.
Derek WalcottRead
What nature delivers to us is never stale. Because what nature creates has eternity in it.
Isaac Bashevis SingerRead
No aquarium, no tank in a marine land, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea. And no dolphin who inhabits one of those aquariums or one of those marine lands can be considered normal.
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Next to the laborer in the fields, the walker holds the closest relation to the soil; and he holds a closer and more vital relation to nature because he is freer and his mind more at leisure.
John BurroughsRead
This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands,--This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.
William ShakespeareRead
If we could begin to look at water pollution as a human rights violation, and we could begin to look at criminal aspects of this, I think that could be a game changer for many companies who want to not be forthwith and think that they can just hold off in a lawsuit for 10 years, and in the meantime, people are still being poisoned.
Erin BrockovichRead