He was one of those men who possess almost every gift, except the gift of the power to use them.
Charles KingsleyRead
The traveler fancies he has seen the country. So he has, the outside of it at least; but the angler only sees the inside. The angler only is brought close, face to face with the flower and bird and insect life of the rich riverbanks, the only part of the landscape where the hand of man has never interfered.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote contrasts superficial experiences with a deeper connection to nature.
Charles Kingsley's quote highlights the difference between a traveler who superficially views a landscape and an angler who intimately engages with nature, drawing attention to the richness of life often overlooked by those who only observe from a distance. The angler experiences the environment on a deeper level, suggesting that true understanding of nature comes from direct interaction rather than mere observation.
Themes
NatureTravelExperienceConnectionLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about environmental conservation, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of engaging with nature.
More from Charles Kingsley
All quotes →Beauty is God's handwriting — a wayside sacrament; welcome it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower, and thank for it Him.
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Take comfort, and recollect however little you and I may know, God knows; He knows Himself and you and me and all things; and His mercy is over all His works.
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Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know.
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Do today's duty, fight to-day's temptation; and do not weaken and distract yourself by looking forward to things which you cannot see, and could not understand if you saw them.
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You must not talk about 'ain't and can't' when you speak of this great wonderful world round you, of which the wisest man knows only the very smallest corner, and is, as the great Sir Isaac Newton said, only a child picking up pebbles on the shore of a boundless ocean.
Charles KingsleyRead
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