“Imagination transforms one substance into another. It changes what is into what might be, what was into what might have been. Straw becomes gold, gold straw, and neither is more real nor, I submit, more precious than the other. Pebbles turn into luminous pearls and pearls into little gray rocks, both solid and beautiful, both essential. Human beings take shape from clay, angels' wings are spun out of water, fire gives rise to the long tongues of demons, love emerges out of thin air, and the basic elements reconstitute themselves again and again.” GivingHumansLittlesLongHas BeensRealMightBeautifulTurnsWaterImaginationHuman BeingsFireAirRocksShapesEssentialsElementsAngelGoldWingsTongueSubstanceDemonGraySubmitAgain And AgainPearlsMight Have BeenClayLuminousStrawsPebblesSpunThin AirAngel Wings Book:The Man on the Ceiling Source: The Man on the Ceiling
“Through the sharp air a flaky torrent flies, Mocks the slow sight, and hides the gloomy skies; The fleecy clouds their chilly bosoms bare, And shed their substance on the floating air.” AirSkySightCloudsSnowSubstanceShedFloatingBosomsGloomyChilly Book:Poems Source: Poems
“The substance of the winds is too thin for human eyes, their written language is too difficult for human minds, and their spoken language mostly too faint for the ears.” MindHumansEyeLanguageStarsDifficultWrittenAirWindEarsCloudsSubstanceHuman MindHuman EyesWritten LanguageSpoken Language Book:The Wilderness Journeys Source: The Wilderness Journeys
“The substance of grief is not imaginary. It's as real as rope or the absence of air, and like both those things, it can kill.” RealGriefAirAbsenceSubstanceImaginaryRope Book:The Poisonwood Bible Source: The Poisonwood Bible
“Hot air expands, and seriously pompous attitude is the inflation of choice by those lacking substance.” ChoicesAttitudeAirHotSubstanceLackingInflationPompousHot Air Author:Vanna Bonta
“Brothers and Sisters: Our ancient homeland is spotted today with an array of chemical dumps. Along the Niagara River, dioxin, a particularly deadly substance, threatens the remaining life there and in the waters which flow from there. Forestry departments spray the surviving forests with powerful insecticides to encourage tourism by people seeking a few days or weeks away from the cities where the air hangs heavy with sulphur and carbon oxides.” PeopleTodayWaterPowerfulCitiesAirWeekBrotherFlowRiversEnvironmentalAncientSeekingHeavyForestsSubstanceDepartmentChemicalsPollutionCarbonBrothers And SistersSurvivingHomelandTourismDumpSprayNiagaraInsecticides Author:Winona LaDuke
“We can decide that the presence of cancer-causing substances in our air, water, and food is too expensive. A 2009 study, for example, has found that coal miners in Appalachia costs the region five times more in premature deaths, including from cancer, than it provides to the region in jobs, taxes, and economic benefits. In California, the production and use of hazardous chemicals cost the state $2.6 billion in 2004 alone in lost wages and health-care expenses to treat workers and children with pollution-linked diseases.” ChildrenStatesUseCareJobsFoundLostWaterStudyFiveAirEconomicExampleCostTaxesDiseaseBenefitsTreatsEnvironmentalWorkersIncludingCancerProductionsBillionsHealth CareSubstanceCaliforniaExpensiveRegionsExpensesChemicalsPollutionWagesCoalLinkedPrematureMinersAppalachiaCoal MinersPremature Death Author:Sandra Steingraber
“Already, viral contamination offers an initial response to the question of the downside of electronic circuits, but another area of research beckons the area of ecological pollution. The pollution not only of air, water, and other substances, but also the unperceived pollution of distances.” WaterAirOffersResearchAreasDistanceResponseSubstancePollutionInitialsEcologicalCircuitsViralContamination Book:Open Sky Source: Open Sky