--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The point of the dragonfly's terrible…" description: "\"The point of the dragonfly's terrible lip, the giant water bug, birdsong, or the beautiful dazzle and flash of sunlighted minnows,is not that it all fi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/681/annie-dillard-509_beautiful_the-point-of-the-dragonfly-s-terrible-li_2256526.jpg" --- # The point of the dragonfly's terrible lip, the giant water… ![“The point of the dragonfly's terrible lip, the giant water bug, birdsong, or the beautiful dazzle and flash of sunlighted minnows,is not that it all fits together like clockwork--for it doesn'tbut that it all flows so freely wild, like the creek, that it all surges in such a free, finged tangle…” quote by Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/681/annie-dillard-509_beautiful_the-point-of-the-dragonfly-s-terrible-li_2256526.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/681/annie-dillard-509_beautiful_the-point-of-the-dragonfly-s-terrible-li_2256526.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/681/annie-dillard-509_beautiful_the-point-of-the-dragonfly-s-terrible-li_2256526.jpg) > “The point of the dragonfly's terrible lip, the giant water bug, birdsong, or the beautiful dazzle and flash of sunlighted minnows,is not that it all fits together like clockwork--for it doesn'tbut that it all flows so freely wild, like the creek, that it all surges in such a free, finged tangle. Freedom is the world's water and weather, the world's nourishment freely given, its soil and sap: and the creator loves pizzazz.” [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Nature's elements flow freely and chaotically, not like a clock, embodying freedom and nourishment that the creator celebrates. **In simple terms:** Nature flows freely, not like a clock, showing freedom and nourishment. Key Takeaway Appreciate nature's wild, unstructured beauty. Themes nature freedom creativity Mood contemplative awestruck Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - hiking - wildlife observation - environmental art - meditative walks Key Concepts chaos theory ecology philosophy of nature Questions to Reflect On - How does embracing natural chaos affect your worldview? - In what ways can you honor nature's untamed flow? A Different Perspective Human desire for order may overlook nature's inherent chaos. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Birdsong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birdsong/) [Bugs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bugs/) [Clockwork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clockwork/) [Creator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creator/) [Creeks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creeks/) [Dazzle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dazzle/) [Dragonflies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dragonflies/) [Dragonfly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dragonfly/) [Fit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fit/) [Flash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flash/) [Flow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) [Flows Freely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flows-freely-1315568/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Freely Wild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freely-wild-5175591/) [Giants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giants/) [Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given/) [Lips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lips/) [Minnows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minnows/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nourishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nourishment/) [Pizzazz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pizzazz/) [Point Dragonfly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/point-dragonfly-5175590/) [River](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river/) [Sap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sap/) [Soil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soil/) [Terrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrible/) [Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/together/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Water Bug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water-bug-5175592/) [Weather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weather/) [Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [She is a water bug on the surface of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/she-is-a-water-bug-on-the-surface-of-life/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Like water poured from one vessel to another, metta flows freely, taking the shape of each situation without changing its essence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/like-water-poured-from-one-vessel-to-another-metta-ows-freely-taking/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) > [Love flows freely from the fountain of a love-filled heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-flows-freely-from-the-fountain-of-a-love-filled-heart/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Release and resolve fear, and what you want flows freely.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-maclaine/release-and-resolve-fear-and-what-you-want-flows-freely/) [Shirley Maclaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-maclaine/) > [We shouldn't feel insulated just because water flows freely from our taps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-yu/we-shouldn-t-feel-insulated-just-because-water-flows-freely-from-our/) [Jessica Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-yu/) > [Borders are semiporous. 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Not really no. But me? Yes. Even though I have no pizzazz?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-july/did-you-ever-really-love-her-not-really-no-but-me-yes-even-though-i/) [Miranda July](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-july/) > [Looking back, I remember telling my daughters that we didn't have money, pizzazz and a lot of the things we have today, but we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-vitale/looking-back-i-remember-telling-my-daughters-that-we-didn-t-have/) [Dick Vitale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-vitale/) > [When I heard about the Microsoft Kinect, though, I felt an urgency rising in me. A game you played without touching any machinery? A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/when-i-heard-about-the-microsoft-kinect-though-i-felt-an-urgency/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [Cancer has pizzazz, box office and glamour, and in actual dollars and prestige, even heart and mental can't hold a candle to it. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-berman/cancer-has-pizzazz-box-office-and-glamour-and-in-actual-dollars-and/) [Edgar Berman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-berman/) > [I think what people are looking for right now is not the kind of pizzazz and pop that perhaps we thought we got in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-portman/i-think-what-people-are-looking-for-right-now-is-not-the-kind-of/) [Rob Portman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-portman/) ## More by Annie Dillard > [Like everyone in his right mind, I feared Santa Claus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/like-everyone-in-his-right-mind-i-feared-santa-claus/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/this-is-a-spendthrift-economy-though-nothing-is-lost-all-is-spent/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The creatures I seek do not want to be seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-creatures-i-seek-do-not-want-to-be-seen/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Nothing moves a woman so deeply as the boyhood of the man she loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/nothing-moves-a-woman-so-deeply-as-the-boyhood-of-the-man-she-loves/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [We live in all we seek. 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