[On gardens:] I think they're sanctuaries for the mind and spirit. ... It's easy to feel wonder-struck in a garden, especially if you cultivate delight. Diane Ackerman More Quotes by Diane Ackerman More Quotes From Diane Ackerman When I go biking, I am mentally far far away from civilization. The world is breaking someone else's heart. Diane Ackerman heartcivilizationworld In rare moments of deep play, we can lay aside our sense of self, shed time's continuum, ignore pain, and sit quietly in the absolute present, watching the world's ordinary miracles. No mind or heart hobbles. No analyzing or explaining. No questing for logic. No promises. No goals. No relationships. No worry. One is completely open to whatever drama may unfold. Diane Ackerman painfundrama Look at your feet. You are standing in the sky. When we think of the sky, we tend to look up, but the sky actually begins at the earth. Diane Ackerman starscloudsthinking Don't just live the length of your life - live the width of it as well. Diane Ackerman lengthassessmentjust-live One can live at a low flame. Most people do. For some, life is an exercise in moderation (best china saved for special occasions), but given something like death, what does it matter if one looks foolish now and then, or tries too hard, or cares too Diane Ackerman flamesexercisepeople I think if you look at any facet of nature in enough detail, you find it fascinating. How could you not? The universe is so full of marvels. Here's an example -- rain, the shape of rain. I was minding my own business, working on my book, looking out the window, and it was raining and I was noticing that the raindrops were falling in that classic round-looking way, and I thought, 'I wonder if raindrops really are round?' So I started researching it a little, and I discovered that raindrops change shape 300 times a second. Diane Ackerman rainbookfall Touch seems to be as essential as sunlight. Diane Ackerman sunlightessentialslove Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world. Diane Ackerman chaosshapesworld As a species, we've somehow survived large and small ice ages, genetic bottlenecks, plagues, world wars and all manner of natural disasters, but I sometimes wonder if we'll survive our own ingenuity. Diane Ackerman iceagewar I like handling newborn animals. Fallen into life from an unmappable world, they are the ultimate immigrants, full of wonder and confusion. Diane Ackerman confusionanimalworld To begin to understand the gorgeous fever that is consciousness, we must try to understand the senses and what they can tell us about the ravishing world we have the privilege to inhabit. Diane Ackerman fevertryingworld A kiss is like singing into someone's mouth. Diane Ackerman best-lovesingingkissing Wonder is a bulky emotion. When you let it fill your heart and mind, there isn't room for anxiety, distress or anything else. Diane Ackerman anxietymindheart Poetry is an act of distillation. It takes contingency samples, is selective. It telescopes time. It focuses what most often floods past us in a polite blur. Diane Ackerman telescopespoetrypast Smell brings to mind... a family dinner of pot roast and sweet potatoes during a myrtle-mad August in a Midwestern town. Smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant land mines hidden under the weedy mass of years. Diane Ackerman seniorsweetmemories Hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once. A complex vision leaps out of the undergrowth. Diane Ackerman smellvisionmemories What an odd, ruminating, noisy, self-interrupting conversation we conduct with ourselves from birth to death. Diane Ackerman birthoddself Nature neither gives nor expects mercy. Diane Ackerman naturemercygiving Tranquillity hides in small spaces, and when found needs to be treasured, because you know it's a phantom that will slip away again. Diane Ackerman phantomsspaceneeds The only and absolute perfect union of two is when a baby hangs suspended in its mother's womb, like a tiny madman in a padded cell, attached to her, feeling her blood and hormones, and moods play through its body, feeling her feelings. Diane Ackerman cellsmotherbaby
