--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Before Alaska came along and ruined…" description: "\"Before Alaska came along and ruined everything, one of every twenty-five square miles in America was Montanan. This much space has nurtured a healthy C..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96f/ellen-meloy-26824_alaska_before-alaska-came-along-and-ruined-ever_2768665.png" --- # Before Alaska came along and ruined everything, one of… ![“Before Alaska came along and ruined everything, one of every twenty-five square miles in America was Montanan. This much space has nurtured a healthy Cult of Place in which people find perfection, even divinity in the landscape.” quote by Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96f/ellen-meloy-26824_alaska_before-alaska-came-along-and-ruined-ever_2768665.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96f/ellen-meloy-26824_alaska_before-alaska-came-along-and-ruined-ever_2768665.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96f/ellen-meloy-26824_alaska_before-alaska-came-along-and-ruined-ever_2768665.png) > “Before Alaska came along and ruined everything, one of every twenty-five square miles in America was Montanan. This much space has nurtured a healthy Cult of Place in which people find perfection, even divinity in the landscape.” [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Vast, open landscapes foster a deep sense of place, leading people to view the environment as sacred and perfect. **In simple terms:** Spacious nature creates a reverent connection to place. Key Takeaway Seek out open natural spaces for inspiration. Themes nature place attachment spirituality Mood contemplative reverent Type environmental philosophical When to use this quote - hiking - photography - writing retreats - environmental activism - null Key Concepts environmental reverence landscape appreciation Questions to Reflect On - How does the landscape shape your sense of self? - What places feel sacred to you? A Different Perspective Urbanization can diminish this feeling of sacred space. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alaska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alaska/) [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Cult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cult/) [Divinity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divinity/) [Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscape/) [Montana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/montana/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfection/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) ## Related quotes > [Montanans know who I am: They know I'm a lifetime Montanan. They know I understand rural America. They know I understand public lands and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-tester/montanans-know-who-i-am-they-know-i-m-a-lifetime-montanan-they-know-i/) [Jon Tester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-tester/) > [We have 45,000 square miles of geography in Ohio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-have-45-000-square-miles-of-geography-in-ohio/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A friend often described Santa Fe as forty-square-miles surrounded by reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-boylan/a-friend-often-described-santa-fe-as-forty-square-miles-surrounded-by/) Andrew Boylan > [San Francisco is 49 square miles surrounded by reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kantner/san-francisco-is-49-square-miles-surrounded-by-reality/) [Paul Kantner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kantner/) > [Washington, DC is 12 square miles bordered by reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-johnson/washington-dc-is-12-square-miles-bordered-by-reality/) [Andrew Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-johnson/) > [“Iran is 636,293 square miles in area. Iran is the 18th largest country in the world by size.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mina-kelly/iran-is-636-293-square-miles-in-area-iran-is-the-18th-largest-country/) Mina Kelly > [We have 45,000 square miles of geography in Ohio. We have a system that allows us to manage a free and fair election, free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-blackwell/we-have-45-000-square-miles-of-geography-in-ohio-we-have-a-system/) [Kenneth Blackwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-blackwell/) > [Washington D.C. is about 300 square miles surrounded by realty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-clancy/washington-d-c-is-about-300-square-miles-surrounded-by-realty/) [Tom Clancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-clancy/) > [“The earth’s surface measures about 200 million square miles, of which 60 million is land. As late as AD 1400, the vast majority of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-earth-s-surface-measures-about-200-million-square-miles-of-which/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness, to think that a thousand square miles are a thousand times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/it-is-the-vice-of-a-vulgar-mind-to-be-thrilled-by-bigness-to-think-2/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness, to think that a thousand square miles are a thousand times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-the-vice-of-a-vulgar-mind-to-be-thrilled-by-bigness-to-think/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There's the Hollywood sign; there's Griffith Observatory; there's the great, amazing Los Angeles Basin. It's 465 square miles of insanity and the best food…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-crais/there-s-the-hollywood-sign-there-s-griffith-observatory-there-s-the/) [Robert Crais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-crais/) > [Washington, or as I like to call it, 68 square miles surrounded by reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-walker/washington-or-as-i-like-to-call-it-68-square-miles-surrounded-by/) [Scott Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-walker/) > [“of the 53,000,000 square miles which (excluding the polar regions) constitute the land area of the globe, only 6,000,000 square miles had non-white governments,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-lothrop-stoddard/of-the-53-000-000-square-miles-which-excluding-the-polar-regions/) [T. Lothrop Stoddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-lothrop-stoddard/) > [We must, however, note that what are usually called the high religions made their appearance within about twenty-five hundred years - most of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-scott-latourette/we-must-however-note-that-what-are-usually-called-the-high-religions/) [Kenneth Scott Latourette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-scott-latourette/) ## More by Ellen Meloy > [There are people who have no engaged conversation with the land whatsoever, no sense of its beauty or extremes or limits and therefore no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/there-are-people-who-have-no-engaged-conversation-with-the-land/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [“Everyone will tell you that genealogy serves two purposes: self-knowledge and social status, some sort of pedigree divined from names, locations, and achievements of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/everyone-will-tell-you-that-genealogy-serves-two-purposes-self/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [“Breathing, it seemed to me, was a proper attribute for the mountains... mountains that quietly functioned as a single thing with a rhythmic inhale-exhale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/breathing-it-seemed-to-me-was-a-proper-attribute-for-the-mountains/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [“ Homo sapiens have left themselves few places and scant ways to witness other species in their own worlds, an estrangement that leaves us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/homo-sapiens-have-left-themselves-few-places-and-scant-ways-to/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [“Each of us possesses five fundamental, enthralling maps to the natural world: sight, touch, taste, hearing, smell. As we unravel the threads that bind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/each-of-us-possesses-five-fundamental-enthralling-maps-to-the-natural/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [The complex human eye harvests light. It perceives seven to ten million colors through a synaptic flash: one-tenth of a second from retina to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/the-complex-human-eye-harvests-light-it-perceives-seven-to-ten/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [A map, it is said, organizes wonder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/a-map-it-is-said-organizes-wonder/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [“I was a lowly puddle of plasma, trading “I am alive” for a vague “I tend to exist” and weeping for joy over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/i-was-a-lowly-puddle-of-plasma-trading-i-am-alive-for-a-vague-i-tend/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [...to slip beneath the surface and soar along the silent bottom of the sea agile and shining in water honeycombed with light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/to-slip-beneath-the-surface-and-soar-along-the-silent-bottom-of-the/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [“A cavalry of sweaty but righteous blond gods chased pesky, unkempt people across an annoyingly leaky Mexican border. A grimy cowboy with a headdress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/a-cavalry-of-sweaty-but-righteous-blond-gods-chased-pesky-unkempt/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [“How do I stop this misery?” I groaned, scanning the shelves for a cure. “Don’t go out there,” he said flatly. I contemplated this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/how-do-i-stop-this-misery-i-groaned-scanning-the-shelves-for-a-cure/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [“ In genealogy you might say that interest lies in the eye of the gene holder. The actual descendants are far more intrigued with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/in-genealogy-you-might-say-that-interest-lies-in-the-eye-of-the-gene/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [“This deranged jungle of ironies coinhabits my skull like feathers and fireworks. My heart fills with stones. I am the mad aunt who laughs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/this-deranged-jungle-of-ironies-coinhabits-my-skull-like-feathers-and/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [“Its beauty stirs the imagination, and I wonder if the last refuge of all that is truly wild lies not on earth but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/its-beauty-stirs-the-imagination-and-i-wonder-if-the-last-refuge-of/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) > [“In the hallowed tradition of squishy doughball liberals, I believe that science, reason, kindness, and understanding—maybe a little food—can set the world right. B”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-meloy/in-the-hallowed-tradition-of-squishy-doughball-liberals-i-believe/) [Ellen Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) [Explore all 21 Ellen Meloy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-meloy/) ## More Alaska quotes > [She smiled with all the delight of a kid on Christmas morning and said, "Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die." -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/she-smiled-with-all-the-delight-of-a-kid-on-christmas-morning-and/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Grief is like an ocean. It comes in waves - some waves are bigger than others and you cannot prepare for it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/summer-lane/grief-is-like-an-ocean-it-comes-in-waves-some-waves-are-bigger-than/) [Summer Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/summer-lane/) > [There's no doubt 'normal' is changing - spring actually came a month early in Alaska, for example, and we had to stop filming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-rice/there-s-no-doubt-normal-is-changing-spring-actually-came-a-month/) [Travis Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-rice/) > [Kids in Alaska don't know they're growing up on the Last Frontier. It's just what they see on the license plates, and it's something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/kids-in-alaska-don-t-know-they-re-growing-up-on-the-last-frontier-it/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [What the hell is instant? Nothing is instant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/what-the-hell-is-instant-nothing-is-instant/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/they-re-our-next-door-neighbors-and-you-can-actually-see-russia-from/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [If the world were an orange with 18 segments meeting at the top (the North Pole), roughly 8 of them would be in Russia,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-shoumatoff/if-the-world-were-an-orange-with-18-segments-meeting-at-the-top-the/) [Alex Shoumatoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-shoumatoff/) > [And I just got the ghost, and I'm calling it Casper but that is so cold, it belong in Alaska.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicki-minaj/and-i-just-got-the-ghost-and-i-m-calling-it-casper-but-that-is-so/) [Nicki Minaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicki-minaj/) > [Like any traveler, I'm always looking for those experiences that are almost unique to any place, and watching films around Alaska of the skies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/like-any-traveler-i-m-always-looking-for-those-experiences-that-are/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/a-changing-environment-will-affect-alaska-more-than-any-other-state/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [Mitt Romney understands the importance of Alaska as a leader in our country's energy production and I look forward to working with him on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-murkowski/mitt-romney-understands-the-importance-of-alaska-as-a-leader-in-our/) [Lisa Murkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-murkowski/) > [Why would even I say we can't stop drilling in the Gulf? Because we have no alternatives. Whether or not we drill in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-safina/why-would-even-i-say-we-can-t-stop-drilling-in-the-gulf-because-we/) [Carl Safina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-safina/) > [On the lip of the Grand Canyon. I've always wanted to do that. My very first TV special out of the Olympics was on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-boitano/on-the-lip-of-the-grand-canyon-i-ve-always-wanted-to-do-that-my-very/) [Brian Boitano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-boitano/) > [“The canopy of trees overhead is so thick that only bits and pieces of blue sky can be seen overhead. Narrow rays of sunshine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-g-foster/the-canopy-of-trees-overhead-is-so-thick-that-only-bits-and-pieces-of/) Vanessa G. Foster > [Let's make a deal: You figure out what the labyrinth is and how to get out of it, and i'll get you laid. -Alaska…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/let-s-make-a-deal-you-figure-out-what-the-labyrinth-is-and-how-to-get/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Browse all 320 Alaska quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alaska/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Before Alaska came along and ruined everything, one of every twenty-five square miles in America was Montanan. 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