That is all the National Parks are about. Use, but do no harm.
Wallace StegnerRead
Touch. It is touch that is the deadliest enemy of chastity, loyalty, monogamy, gentility with its codes and conventions and restraints. By touch we are betrayed and betray others ... an accidental brushing of shoulders or touching of hands ... hands laid on shoulders in a gesture of comfort that lies like a thief, that takes, not gives, that wants, not offers, that awakes, not pacifies. When one flesh is waiting, there is electricity in the merest contact.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Touch can lead to betrayal of loyalty and purity in relationships.
This quote by Wallace Stegner explores the complex nature of physical touch in human relationships. It suggests that touch, while often seen as an expression of affection or comfort, can also undermine chastity, loyalty, and emotional integrity, creating a conflict between desire and commitment. The idea that even the slightest contact can elicit strong emotions indicates a deeper tension inherent in human connections.
Themes
TouchRelationshipsBetrayalLoyaltyEmotions
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a discussion about the complexities of romantic relationships at a relationship seminar.
More from Wallace Stegner
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Young writers should be encouraged to write, and discouraged from thinking they are writers.
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I was shaped by the west and have lived most of my life in it, and nothing would gratify me more than to see it in all its subregions and subcultures both prosperous and environmentally healthy, with a civilization to match its scenery.
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Most things break, including hearts. The lessons of life amount not to wisdom, but to scar tissue and callus.
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No place is a place until things that have happened in it are remembered in history, ballads, yarns, legends, or monuments. Fictions serve as well as facts.
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