#ture

Any Christianity that rests upon a dichotomy - some sort of platonic concept - simply does not have an answer to nature, and we must say with tears that much orthodoxy, much evangelical Christianity, is rooted in a platonic concept, wherein the only interest is in the "upper story", in the heavenly things - only in "saving the soul" and getting it to heaven. In this platonic concept, even though orthodox and evangelical terminology is used, there is little or no interest in the proper pleasures of the body or the proper uses of the intellect. In such a Christianity there is a strong tendency to see nothing in nature beyond its use as one of the classic proofs of God's existence. "Look at nature," we are told; "Look at the Alps. God must have made them." And that is the end. Nature has become merely an academic proof of the existence of the Creator, with little value in itself. Christians of this outlook do not show an interest in nature itself. They use it simply as an apologetic weapon, rather than thinking or talking about the real value of nature. ↗

— Francis Schaeffer

#nature

The recognition of oneself as a part of nature, and reliance on natural things, are disappearing for hundreds of millions of people who do not know that anything is being lost. ↗

— Robertson Davies

#nature

Lengvai lyg šokėja apėjo ji aplink lovą, pastatė taurę greta savęs ant grindų ir pasirąžė. Svetimos saulės nurusvinta ji nesidrovėjo savo nuogumo, kaip moteris, kuri ne tiktai žino, kad jos geidžia, bet ir ne kartą šitai yra girdėjusi. ↗

— Erich Maria Remarque

#nature

Instead of being a gift that separates us from the animals, free will has become my gaoler. Junkies are the ultimate outsider, not only are we outside of society: we are outside of nature. I spit, turn, and wander towards the beach. Heroin gave me wings but took away the sky. ↗

— Drew Gates

#drugs #heroin #nature

Literary history and the present are dark with silences . . . I have had special need to learn all I could of this over the years, myself so nearly remaining mute and having to let writing die over and over again in me. These are not natural silences--what Keats called agonie ennuyeuse (the tedious agony)--that necessary time for renewal, lying fallow, gestation, in the natural cycle of creation. The silences I speak of here are unnatural: the unnatural thwarting of what struggles to come into being, but cannot. ↗

— Tillie Olsen

#nature

It's our nature, isn't it? Again and again, we cling to the foolish belief taht simple solutions exist ↗

— Steven Erikson

#nature

The dear girl, I fear, may be contemplating some alarming, disruptive perhaps dangerous project. In which case, I would naturally do all in my power to keep her from any such rash or foolhardy enterprise – unless she wished me to accompany her. ↗

— Lloyd Alexander

#nature

I miss God. I miss the company of someone utterly loyal. I still don’t think of God as my betrayer. The servants of God, yes, but servants by their very nature betray. I miss God who was my friend. I don’t even know if God exists, but I do know if God is your emotional role model, very few human relationships will match up to it. ↗

— Jeanette Winterson

#nature

White magic or black, it doesn’t make a difference. Natural and artificial? Obsolete distinctions ↗

— David Porush

#magic #natural #real #nature

The dangerous temptation of wildlife films is that they can lull us into thinking we can get by without the original models -- that we might not need animals in the flesh. ↗

— Doug Peacock

#nature #wildlife #nature