One Man's Owl Quotes

“We are social animals. We like to feel a part of something of beauty and power that transcends our insignificance. It can be a religion, a political party, a ball club. Why not also Nature? I feel a strong identity with the world of living things. I was born into it; we all were. But we may not feel the ties unless we gain intimacy by seeing, feeling, smelling, touching and studying the natural world. Trying to live in harmony with the dictates of nature is probably as inspirational as living in harmony with the Koran or the Bible. Perhaps it is also a timely undertaking.”
― Bernd Heinrich, One Man's Owl: Abridged Edition

“The touching of nature is, to me, more than a satisfying of my curiosity. It is the source of my wonder. Any one species is a link to my life and all of life that has ever been. To contemplate life is akin to a religious meditation. Indeed, to have a false view of nature is, to me, a sacrilege, because it can breed needless pain. To be a part of nature, through touching and understanding, is ti strive to understand the principles of how nature operates. And to know those principles is to be able to work for the good of all.”
― Bernd Heinrich, One Man's Owl: Abridged Edition

“Sometimes the reasons for an occurrence are so complex and out of our control that it helps to think of them as fate, and all of us creatures of the Earth must live with fate and embrace it.”
― Bernd Heinrich, One Man's Owl: Abridged Edition

“The debate of nature versus nurture is an old one. But it is off the mark. There is no nature versus nurture. One is not possible without the other. Life is like a fire that consumes resources and changes them to something else. Genetic capacity is like a spark or flame. But the size of the final flame is not related to the initial spark; it is determined by the environment.”
― Bernd Heinrich, One Man's Owl: Abridged Edition