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Terry Tempest Williams

Terry Tempest Williams Quotes

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Famous Terry Tempest Williams Quotes

“It's strange how deserts turn us into believers. I believe in walking in a landscape of mirages, because you learn humility. I believe in living in a land of little water because life is drawn together. And I believe in the gathering of bones as a testament to spirits that have moved on. If the desert is holy, it is because it is a forgotten place that allows us to remember the sacred. Perhaps that is why every pilgrimage to the desert is a pilgrimage to the self.”

IfsBelieveLittlesSelfTogetherRememberLife IsSpiritTurnsI BelieveWaterLandHumilityStrangeWalkingHolySacredMovedForgottenI Believe InBonesBelieverDesertLandscapeTestamentGatheringPilgrimageMoved OnMiragesDrawn Together
Book:Red: passion and patience in the desert
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“A mother and daughter are an edge. Edges are ecotones, transitional zones, places of danger or opportunity. House-dwelling tension. When I stand on the edge of the land and sea, I feel this tension, this fluid line of transition. High tide. Low tide. It is the sea's reach and retreat that reminds me we have been human for only a very short time.”

FeelsHumansHas BeensMotherOpportunityHouseLinesSeaLandDangerLowsDaughterEdgesTensionZoneTransitionTidesRetreatDwellingFluidShort TimeMother And DaughterLand And Sea
Book:When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice
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“I think an erotics of place may be one of the reasons why environmentalists are seen as subversive. There is a backlash now:... [ellipsis in source] take all the regulations away; weaken existing legislation; the endangered species act is too severe, too restrictive; let there be carte blanche for real-estate developers. Because if we really have to confront wildness, solitude, and serenity, both the fierceness and compassionate nature of the land, then we ultimately have to confront it in ourselves, and it's easier to be numb, to be distracted, to be disengaged.”

IfsThinkingMayRealReasonNatureLandSourceEasierSolitudeSpeciesReason WhyWildernessCompassionateRegulationSerenityEstatesLegislationSevereDistractedEnvironmentalismNumbSubversiveEnvironmentalistWildnessDevelopersBacklashEndangered SpeciesFiercenessBlancheEndangered Species Act
Author:Terry Tempest Williams
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“I feel we have to begin standing our ground in the places we love. I think that we have to demand that concern for the land, concern for the Earth, and this extension of community that we've been speaking of, is not marginal - in the same way that women's rights are not marginal, in the same way that rights for children are not marginal. There is no separation between the health of human beings and the health of the land. It is all part of a compassionate view of the world.”

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Author:Terry Tempest Williams
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“We are contemporary citizens living in a technological world. Swimming in crosscultural waters can be dangerous, and if you are honest you can't stay there very long. Sooner or later you have to look at your own reflection and decide what to do with yourself. We are urban people. We make periodic pilgrimages to the country. . . . If we align ourselves with the spirit of place we will find humility fused with joy. The land holds stories.”

PeopleIfsWorldLooksLongCountryStoriesJoySpiritWaterLandHonestDangerousHumilityCitizensReflectionContemporarySwimmingSooner Or LaterUrbanTechnologicalPilgrimageSpirit Of Place
Book:Pieces of White Shell: A Journey to Navajoland
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“We have to speak out now on behalf of our community and on behalf of the land and say they're the same thing and say No, we are not rolling over and No, this is not a corporate enterprise. This is democracy in the fullest sense and we must have regard and reverence and those are the cornerstones of a just society.”

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Author:Terry Tempest Williams
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“It is time for us to take off our masks, to step out from behind our personas - whatever they might be: educators, activists, biologists, geologists, writers, farmers, ranchers, and bureaucrats - and admit we are lovers, engaged in an erotics of place. Loving the land. Honoring its mysteries. Acknowledging, embracing the spirit of place - there is nothing more legitimate and there is nothing more true. That is why we are here. That is why we do what we do. There is nothing intellectual about it. We love the land. It is a primal affair.”

MightSpiritBehindsStepsMysteryLandLoversIntellectualAffairEngagedMaskActivistFarmersStewardshipPersonaEducatorPrimalBureaucratsBiologistGeologistRanchersWhy We Are HereWhy We Do What We DoFarmers And RanchersSpirit Of Place
Book:An Unspoken Hunger
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