Everything is the same, the fog says 'We are fog and we fly by dissolving like ephemera,' and the leaves say 'We are leaves and we jiggle in the wind, that's all, we come and go, grow and fall' - Even the paper bags in my garbage pit say 'We are mantransformed paper bags made out of wood pulp, we are kinda proud of being paper bags as long as that will be possible, but we'll be mush again with our sisters the leaves come rainy season' - The tree stumps say 'We are tree stumps torn out of the ground by men, sometimes by the wind, we have big tendrils full of earth that drink out of the earth' - Men say 'We are men, we pull out tree stumps, we make paper bags, we think wise thoughts, we make lunch, we look around, we make a great effort to realise everything is the same.'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- All entities, from nature to humans, share a transient existence and strive to understand their place within a unified cycle of creation and decay.
- In plain terms
- Everything lives briefly and changes, yet all seek meaning in being part of the same whole.
- What can you take from it?
- Accept the fleeting nature of all things as part of a shared existence.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What gives your existence meaning?
- How do you accept change?
Another view
The anthropomorphism of objects may obscure the distinct realities of natural versus artificial systems.
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