“No dogma taught by the present civilization seems to form so insuperable an obstacle in a way of a right understanding of the relations which culture sustains as to wilderness, as that which declares that the world was made especially for the uses of men. Every animal, plant, and crystal controverts it in the plainest terms. Yet it is taught from century to century as something ever new and precious, and in the resulting darkness the enormous conceit is allowed to go unchallenged.” MenWorldWayMadeUseSeemsEarthFormCultureUnderstandingTermNatureAnimalDarknessCenturyTaughtCivilizationRelationPlantObstaclesEnormousWildernessDogmaCrystalsConceitWildness Author:John Muir
“But man is above all a social and political animal; his relations with his fellow human beings form his most absorbing and important interest.” MenHumansImportantFormPoliticalSocialInterestHuman BeingsAnimalRelationFellowsAbsorbingPolitical Animals Author:Logan Pearsall Smith
“The Sun-Paul must consider only one thing: what is the relation of this or that external reaction of the animal to the phenomena of the external world?” WorldAnimalSunOne ThingRelationReactions Author:Ivan Pavlov
“Rumors and reports of man's relation with animals are the world's oldest news stories, headlined in the stars of the zodiac, posted on the walls of prehistoric caves, inscribed in the languages of Egyptian myth, Greek philosophy, Hindu religion, Christian art, our own DNA. Belonging within the circle of mankind's intimate acquaintance ... constant albeit speechless companions, they supplied energies fit to be harnessed or roasted.” MenWorldArtPhilosophyStoriesChristianEnergyLanguageStarsAnimalMankindWallFitNewsRelationConstantMythCirclesGreekIntimateReportsCompanionBelongingCavesDnaAcquaintanceRumorEgyptianSpeechlessReligion ChristianPrehistoricZodiacNews StoriesHindu ReligionGreek PhilosophyChristian Art Author:Lewis H. Lapham
“In the Renaissance, madness was present everywhere and mingled with every experience by its images or its dangers. During the classical period, madness was shown, but on the other side of bars; if present, it was at a distance, under the eyes of a reason that no longer felt any relation to it and that would not compromise itself by too close a resemblance. Madness had become a thing to look at: no longer a monster inside oneself, but an animal with strange mechanisms, a bestiality from which man had long since been suppressed.” IfsMenLooksLongReasonEyeFeltSidesAnimalDangerStrangePeriodsMadnessRelationDistanceOneselfMonstersBarsCompromiseMechanismRenaissanceResemblance Book:Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason Source: Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason
“It is not just contemporary industrial society that is dysfunctional; it is civilization itself. We humans are born to be creatures of the land and the sea and the stars; we are relations to the animals, cohorts to the plants. Our well being, and the well-being of the very planet depend on our pursuance of our given place within the natural world.” WorldHumansWellsGivenStarsBornNaturalAnimalSeaLandPlanetsDependsCivilizationCreaturesRelationPlantContemporaryWell BeingNatural World Author:Chellis Glendinning
“What is a totem? It is as a rule an animal (whether edible and harmless or dangerous and feared) and more rarely a plant or a natural phenomenon (such as rain or water), which stands in a peculiar relation to the whole clan. In the first place, the totem is the common ancestor of the clan; at the same time it is their guardian spirit and helper, which sends them oracles and, if dangerous to others, recognizes and spares its own children.” IfsFirstsChildrenWholeSpiritWaterNaturalAnimalCommonDangerousRainRelationPlantPhenomenonPeculiarAncestorSparesGuardianClansHelpersOraclesTotemsNatural Phenomena Book:Totem and Taboo Source: Totem and Taboo