--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I grew up in a forest. It's like a room…" description: "\"I grew up in a forest. It's like a room. It's protected. Like a cathedral... it is a place between heaven and earth.\" — Anselm Kiefer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ad/anselm-kiefer-19043_cathedrals_i-grew-up-in-a-forest-it-s-like-a-room-i_1778427.png" --- # I grew up in a forest. It's like a room. It's protected… ![“I grew up in a forest. It's like a room. It's protected. Like a cathedral... it is a place between heaven and earth.” quote by Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ad/anselm-kiefer-19043_cathedrals_i-grew-up-in-a-forest-it-s-like-a-room-i_1778427.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ad/anselm-kiefer-19043_cathedrals_i-grew-up-in-a-forest-it-s-like-a-room-i_1778427.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ad/anselm-kiefer-19043_cathedrals_i-grew-up-in-a-forest-it-s-like-a-room-i_1778427.png) > “I grew up in a forest. It's like a room. It's protected. Like a cathedral... it is a place between heaven and earth.” [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker describes a forest as a sacred, protective space that bridges the divine and the earthly, emphasizing its reverence and isolation. **In simple terms:** A forest feels like a holy, safe room between heaven and earth. Key Takeaway Cherish and protect natural sanctuaries. Themes nature spirituality protection place heaven\_and\_earth Mood awe contemplative Type descriptive poetic When to use this quote - hiking - meditation - conservation - photography - writing Key Concepts sacredness interconnectedness environmental reverence Questions to Reflect On - How does this perception influence your interaction with nature? - What responsibilities arise from seeing nature as sacred? A Different Perspective Such reverence may overlook the forest's ecological challenges and human impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cathedrals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cathedrals/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Forest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forest/) [Forests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forests/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Heaven and earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven-and-earth/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [Nature Boy, whats that? Do you run around the forest like Euell Gibbons, eating bark or something?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-piper/nature-boy-whats-that-do-you-run-around-the-forest-like-euell-gibbons/) [Roddy Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-piper/) > [“The first forests about which anything is known were made up of the simplest kinds of plants, all of them spore-produced - horsetails, club…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-ketchum/the-first-forests-about-which-anything-is-known-were-made-up-of-the/) [Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) > [“Entering the rain forest was like passing through a green curtain into a massive haunted room. It was as claustrophobic as I feared. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-morris/entering-the-rain-forest-was-like-passing-through-a-green-curtain/) [James Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-morris/) > [“She was like a forest, like the dark interlacing of the oakwood, humming inaudibly with myriad unfolding buds. Meanwhile the birds of desire were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence-2/she-was-like-a-forest-like-the-dark-interlacing-of-the-oakwood/) [D.H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence-2/) > [Revenge is never a straight line. It's a forest, and like a forest it's easy to lose your way … to get lost ……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hattori-hanzo/revenge-is-never-a-straight-line-it-s-a-forest-and-like-a-forest-it-s/) Hattori Hanzo > [Typography must be as beautiful as a forest, not like the concrete jungle of the tenements It gives distance between the trees, the room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-frutiger/typography-must-be-as-beautiful-as-a-forest-not-like-the-concrete/) [Adrian Frutiger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-frutiger/) > [“I wondered then if life weren’t about nature, if we were supposed to live in the woods and grow into the forest like tree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/i-wondered-then-if-life-weren-t-about-nature-if-we-were-supposed-to/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [“I was for anything that didn’t involve traipsing through the forest like a Sondheim character.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carey-corp/i-was-for-anything-that-didn-t-involve-traipsing-through-the-forest/) [Carey Corp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carey-corp/) > [I never see a forest that does not bear a mark or a sign of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/i-never-see-a-forest-that-does-not-bear-a-mark-or-a-sign-of-history/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [You can’t bring an unwritten place to life without losing something substantial. Manila is the cradle, the graveyard, the memory. The Mecca, the Cathedral,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-syjuco/you-can-t-bring-an-unwritten-place-to-life-without-losing-something/) [Miguel Syjuco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-syjuco/) > [Nothing is more urgent than a serious, dare I say compassionate, debate as to where we are going at home and abroad. Technicians cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/nothing-is-more-urgent-than-a-serious-dare-i-say-compassionate-debate/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [The pursuit of peace resembles the building of a great cathedral. It is the work of a generation. In concept it requires a mater-architect;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey/the-pursuit-of-peace-resembles-the-building-of-a-great-cathedral-it/) [Hubert H. Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) > [We will live to see the day that St. Patrick's Cathedral is a child-care center and the pope is no longer a disgrace to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-will-live-to-see-the-day-that-st-patrick-s-cathedral-is-a-child/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Even if you tried to extinguish your personality, what is left in the story will reflect it, perhaps by its negation. Our lives provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/even-if-you-tried-to-extinguish-your-personality-what-is-left-in-the/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/universities-are-the-cathedrals-of-the-modern-age-they-shouldn-t-have/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) ## More by Anselm Kiefer > [Art really is something very difficult. It is difficult to make, and it is sometimes difficult for the viewer to understand. It is difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/art-really-is-something-very-difficult-it-is-difficult-to-make-and-it/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [What does the artist do? He draws connections. He ties the invisible threads between things. He dives into history, be it the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/what-does-the-artist-do-he-draws-connections-he-ties-the-invisible/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [History is formed by the people, those who have power and those without power. Each one of us makes history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/history-is-formed-by-the-people-those-who-have-power-and-those/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [Art is difficult. It's not entertainment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/art-is-difficult-it-s-not-entertainment/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [Art is difficult. It's not entertainment. There are only a few people who can say something about art - it's very restricted. When I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/art-is-difficult-it-s-not-entertainment-there-are-only-a-few-people/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [When knowledge becomes rigid, it stops living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/when-knowledge-becomes-rigid-it-stops-living/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [I might have been born into a very literal sense of chaos, but in fact that state is true of all of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/i-might-have-been-born-into-a-very-literal-sense-of-chaos-but-in-fact/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [I am against the idea of the end, that everything culminates in paradise or judgment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/i-am-against-the-idea-of-the-end-that-everything-culminates-in/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [Ruins, for me, are the beginning. With the debris, you can construct new ideas. They are symbols of a beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/ruins-for-me-are-the-beginning-with-the-debris-you-can-construct-new/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [I believe art has to take responsibility but it should not give up being art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/i-believe-art-has-to-take-responsibility-but-it-should-not-give-up/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [I am of the opinion that there are artists and non-artists. I think that this is the way it always was and always will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/i-am-of-the-opinion-that-there-are-artists-and-non-artists-i-think/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [I was interested in transcendence from a very early age. I was interested in what was over there, what was behind life. So when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/i-was-interested-in-transcendence-from-a-very-early-age-i-was/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [Art maybe the only space where an indvidual can be utterly free to question himself, as well as his relationship to his God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/art-maybe-the-only-space-where-an-indvidual-can-be-utterly-free-to/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [If I do something that depresses, it's not because I'm depressed, but because political life and history is depressing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/if-i-do-something-that-depresses-it-s-not-because-i-m-depressed-but/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [Because of my Calvinistic upbringing, I was trained to think that what you do has to have a purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/because-of-my-calvinistic-upbringing-i-was-trained-to-think-that-what/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) [Explore all 33 Anselm Kiefer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) ## More Cathedrals quotes > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/universities-are-the-cathedrals-of-the-modern-age-they-shouldn-t-have/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) > [Even if you tried to extinguish your personality, what is left in the story will reflect it, perhaps by its negation. Our lives provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/even-if-you-tried-to-extinguish-your-personality-what-is-left-in-the/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [We will live to see the day that St. Patrick's Cathedral is a child-care center and the pope is no longer a disgrace to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-will-live-to-see-the-day-that-st-patrick-s-cathedral-is-a-child/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The pursuit of peace resembles the building of a great cathedral. It is the work of a generation. In concept it requires a mater-architect;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey/the-pursuit-of-peace-resembles-the-building-of-a-great-cathedral-it/) [Hubert H. Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) > [Nothing is more urgent than a serious, dare I say compassionate, debate as to where we are going at home and abroad. Technicians cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/nothing-is-more-urgent-than-a-serious-dare-i-say-compassionate-debate/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [You can’t bring an unwritten place to life without losing something substantial. Manila is the cradle, the graveyard, the memory. The Mecca, the Cathedral,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-syjuco/you-can-t-bring-an-unwritten-place-to-life-without-losing-something/) [Miguel Syjuco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-syjuco/) > [My icons do not raise up the blessed savior in elaborate cathedrals. They are constructed concentrations celebrating barren rooms. They bring a limited light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-flavin/my-icons-do-not-raise-up-the-blessed-savior-in-elaborate-cathedrals/) [Dan Flavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-flavin/) > [Her father had taught her about hands. About a dog's paws. Whenever her father was alone with a dog in a house he would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/her-father-had-taught-her-about-hands-about-a-dog-s-paws-whenever-her/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Most buildings, whether they're Gothic cathedrals or Romanesque ones, were high tech for their time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rogers/most-buildings-whether-they-re-gothic-cathedrals-or-romanesque-ones/) [Richard Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rogers/) > [Many men build as cathedrals are built-the part nearest the ground finished, but that part which soars toward heaven, the turrets and the spires,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/many-men-build-as-cathedrals-are-built-the-part-nearest-the-ground/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“I believe that love is better than hate. And that there is more nobility in building a chicken coop than in destroying a cathedral.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-believe-that-love-is-better-than-hate-and-that-there-is-more/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If theory is the role of the architect, then such beautiful proofs are the role of the craftsman. Of course, as with the great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-atiyah/if-theory-is-the-role-of-the-architect-then-such-beautiful-proofs-are/) [Michael Atiyah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-atiyah/) > [“Cathedrals are to be adored until the day when, to preserve them, it would be necessary to deny the truths which they teach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/cathedrals-are-to-be-adored-until-the-day-when-to-preserve-them-it/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Our respect for the dead, when they are just dead, is something wonderful, and the way we show it more wonderful still. We show…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/our-respect-for-the-dead-when-they-are-just-dead-is-something/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [ \[Rumi\] is trying to get us to feel the vastness of our true identity... like the sense you might get walking into a cathedral... ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleman-barks/rumi-is-trying-to-get-us-to-feel-the-vastness-of-our-true-identity/) [Coleman Barks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleman-barks/) [Browse all 260 Cathedrals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cathedrals/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I grew up in a forest. It's like a room. It's protected. 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