The intimate rapport with nature is one of the most precious things in life. Nature is indeed very close to us; sometimes closer than hands and feet, of which in truth she is but the extension. The emotional appeal of nature is tremendous, sometimes almost more than one can bear.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Nature is deeply connected to humans, sometimes closer than our own limbs, and its emotional pull can be overwhelming.
- In plain terms
- Nature is intimately close to us and its emotional impact is very strong.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize nature as an extension of yourself and respect its emotional pull.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How does nature feel closer than your own body?
- What emotion does the natural world evoke in you?
Another view
Describing nature as an extension of the self can blur boundaries and discourage objective observation.
More from Jan Christiaan Smuts
Having no human companion I felt a spirit of comradeship for the objects of nature around me. In my childish way I communed with these as with my own soul; the…
Permalink to quote #3 The British Empire is the greatest stimulant of organised freedom which the world has ever known. By geography, by experience, by practical idealism, by politi…
Permalink to quote #5 ... the tendency in nature to form wholes that are greater than the sum of the parts through creative evolution ...
Permalink to quote #2
Related quotes
Maybe that's what life is... a wink of the eye and winking stars.
Jack KerouacJack Kerouac quote #1 We are inescapably the result of a long heritage of learning, adaptation, mutation and evolution, the product of a history which predates our birth as a biolog…
Fred HoyleFred Hoyle quote #2 The tides are in our veins, we still mirror the stars, life is your child, but there is in me Older and harder than life and more impartial, the eye that watch…
Robinson JeffersRobinson Jeffers quote #2