I have seen it over and over, the same sea, the same, slightly, indifferently swinging above the stones, icily free above the stones, above the stones and then the world. If you should dip your hand in, your wrist would ache immediately, your bones would begin to ache and your hand would burnas if the water were a transmutation of firethat feeds on stones and burns with a dark gray flame. If you tasted it, it would first taste bitter, then briny, then surely burn your tongue. It is like what we imagine knowledge to be:dark, salt, clear, moving, utterly free, drawn form the cold hard mouthof the world, derived from the rocky breastsforever, flowing and drawn, and sinceour knowledge is historical, flowing, and flown. . Elizabeth Bishop
About This Quote

"If you dip your hand in,your wrist would ache immediately,your bones would begin to ache and your hand would burnas if the water were a transmutation of firethat feeds on stones and burns with a dark gray flame.If you tasted it, it would first taste bitter,then briny, then surely burn your tongue.It is like what we imagine knowledge to be:dark, salt, clear, moving, utterly free,drawn form the cold hard mouthof the world, derived from the rocky breastsforever, flowing and drawn, and sinceour knowledge is historical, flowing, and flown." This quote illustrates how our knowledge of nature is imperfect – not only do we have a very limited understanding of how it works – but for each for each person's knowledge of nature it will be different. Even though this quote might lead us to believe that our knowledge of nature is limited by our experience – as opposed to being limited by the nature itself – there is no doubt that our knowledge about nature is constantly changing. For example: The English word "rose" comes from the French word "rosier" which means "little rose." In English-speaking countries today however a rose is a much more obvious flower.

Source: North And South

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