Solitude is not the same as loneliness. Solitude is a solitary boat floating in a sea of possible companions.
Robert FulghumRead
The world does not need tourists who ride by in a bus clucking their tongues. The world as it is needs those who will love it enough to change it, with what they have, where they are.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of active participation in improving the world rather than merely observing it.
Robert Fulghum's quote calls for individuals to go beyond passive observation of the world and instead take an active role in enacting change. He suggests that the world requires those who not only appreciate its beauty but are also willing to contribute to its improvement using whatever resources and skills they possess, regardless of their location or circumstances.
Themes
ChangeLoveActionWorldParticipation
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech at an environmental rally to inspire action.
More from Robert Fulghum
All quotes →If dandelions were rare and fragile, people would knock themselves out to pay $14.95 a plant, raise them by hand in greenhouses, and form dandelion societies and all that. But, they are everywhere and don't need us and kind of do what they please. So we call them weeds and murder them at every opportunity
Robert FulghumRead
We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness — and call it love — true love.
Robert FulghumRead
Peace is not something you wish for, it's something you make
Robert FulghumRead
Doing a straight-forward, clear-cut task that has a beginning and an end balances out the complexity-without-end that often vexes the rest of my life. Sacred simplicity.
Robert FulghumRead
The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. No, not at all. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.
Robert FulghumRead
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When people made up their minds that they wanted to be free and took action, then there was a change.
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Heaven and Earth are meeting in a storm that, when it's over, will leave the air purer and the leaves fertile, but before that happens, houses will be destroyed, centuries- old trees will topple, paradises will be flooded.
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That is how you know you've left childhood behind-when you wish for time to go backward.
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