I was in no tent under leaves, sleepless and glad. There was no moon at all; along the world’s coasts the sea tides would be springing strong. The air itself also has lunar tides; I lay still. Could I feel in the air an invisible sweep and surge, and an answering knock in the lungs? Or could I feel the starlight? Every minute on a square mile of this land one ten thousandth of an ounce of starlight spatters to earth. What percentage of an ounce did that make on my eyes and cheeks and arms, tapping and nudging as particles, pulsing and stroking as waves? . Annie Dillard
About This Quote

The lines from A.E. Housman's poem "To an Athlete Dying Young" demonstrate the semi-religious connection we have with the natural world. We tend to think of nature as something that exists outside of us, but in reality we are just another part of it. We all die and our bodies become another thing in the natural world.

In the same way, the air on our face is a part of nature. Whether or not you believe in God or some other form of higher power, it doesn't matter at this point. The fact is that we are all part of nature and when we die, we become a part of nature once again.

Source: Pilgrim At Tinker Creek

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More Quotes By Annie Dillard
  1. How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.
  2. Spend the afternoon, you can't take it with you.
  3. You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find that darkness is necessary. But the stars neither require nor demand it.
  4. Could two live that way? Could two live under the wild rose, and explore by the pond, so that the smooth mind of each is as everywhere present to the other, and as received and as unchallenged, as falling snow?
  5. Eskimo: "If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?" Priest: "No, not if you did not know." Eskimo: "Then why did you tell me?
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