--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How have I been able to live so long…" description: "\"How have I been able to live so long outside Nature without identifying myself with it? Everything lives, moves, everything corresponds; the magnetic r..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/g-rard-de-nerval-14793_able_how-have-i-been-able-to-live-so-long-out_1007269.jpg" --- # How have I been able to live so long outside Nature… ![“How have I been able to live so long outside Nature without identifying myself with it? Everything lives, moves, everything corresponds; the magnetic rays, emanating either from myself or from others, cross the limitless chain of created things unimpeded; it is a transparent network that covers…” quote by Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/g-rard-de-nerval-14793_able_how-have-i-been-able-to-live-so-long-out_1007269.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/g-rard-de-nerval-14793_able_how-have-i-been-able-to-live-so-long-out_1007269.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84c/g-rard-de-nerval-14793_able_how-have-i-been-able-to-live-so-long-out_1007269.jpg) > “How have I been able to live so long outside Nature without identifying myself with it? Everything lives, moves, everything corresponds; the magnetic rays, emanating either from myself or from others, cross the limitless chain of created things unimpeded; it is a transparent network that covers the world, and its slender threads communicate themselves by degrees to the planets and stars. Captive now upon earth, I commune with the chorus of the stars who share in my joys and sorrows.” [Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) ## 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 feels a deep, invisible connection to the cosmos, seeing all life as part of a shared, magnetic network. **In simple terms:** We are all linked by unseen forces. Key Takeaway Recognize and honor your place in the universal web. Themes spirituality interconnectedness nature existence Mood contemplative wonderful Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - meditation - creative writing - environmental activism - personal reflection Key Concepts magnetism cosmic consciousness transcendence Questions to Reflect On - How do you experience this invisible network daily? - What practices deepen your sense of cosmic belonging? A Different Perspective The metaphor may over‑idealize connection, ignoring practical isolation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Captives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/captives/) [Chains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chains/) [Chorus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chorus/) [Communes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communes/) [Communicate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communicate/) [Created Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/created-things-324662/) [Crosses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crosses/) [Degrees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degrees/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Identifying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identifying/) [Identifying Lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identifying-lives-2165151/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Joys and sorrows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joys-and-sorrows/) [Limitless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitless/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Magnetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magnetic/) [Magnetic Rays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magnetic-rays-2165153/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature Identifying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-identifying-2165152/) [Outside Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-nature-543145/) [Planets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planets/) [Rays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rays/) [Share](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/share/) [Slender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slender/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Thread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thread/) [Transparent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transparent/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Don't shoot for something unattainable - completely outside of your nature or opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-johnson/don-t-shoot-for-something-unattainable-completely-outside-of-your/) [Michael Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-johnson/) > [I'm very rarely in the gym. My workouts are predominantly outside, in nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-kwanten/i-m-very-rarely-in-the-gym-my-workouts-are-predominantly-outside-in/) [Ryan Kwanten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-kwanten/) > [Thus at every step we are reminded that we by no means rule over nature like a conqueror over a foreign people, like someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/thus-at-every-step-we-are-reminded-that-we-by-no-means-rule-over/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [“Philosophy is a will to confront human artifice with its outside, with Nature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/philosophy-is-a-will-to-confront-human-artifice-with-its-outside-with/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [Outside nature, against nature, without excuse, beyond remedy, except what remedy I find within myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/outside-nature-against-nature-without-excuse-beyond-remedy-except/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [What has dawned on me is that focusing on the "finite planet" frame sends a message that we have gone as far as Nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-moore-lapp/what-has-dawned-on-me-is-that-focusing-on-the-finite-planet-frame/) [Frances Moore Lappé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-moore-lapp/) > [An organism without its nature is a being outside the Nature, which, technically, is not realizable in the very near existence of our Universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-fulger/an-organism-without-its-nature-is-a-being-outside-the-nature-which/) [Mariana Fulger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-fulger/) > [When one looks at Nature through the glass walls of the Farnsworth House, it takes on a deeper significance than when one stands outside.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe/when-one-looks-at-nature-through-the-glass-walls-of-the-farnsworth/) [Ludwig Mies van der Rohe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe/) > [“The artist, to my way of thinking, is a monstrosity, something outside nature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/the-artist-to-my-way-of-thinking-is-a-monstrosity-something-outside/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“W might 'conquer' nature if we could first, or at the same time, conquer our own nature, though we do not see that human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-watts/w-might-conquer-nature-if-we-could-first-or-at-the-same-time-conquer/) [Alan W. Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-watts/) > [If God is real, and I believe he is, then he is outside of nature. He is, therefore, not limited by the laws of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/if-god-is-real-and-i-believe-he-is-then-he-is-outside-of-nature-he-is/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [By being outside of nature, God is also outside of space and time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/by-being-outside-of-nature-god-is-also-outside-of-space-and-time/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [I love being outside in nature, especially by the water - if I could, I would come back as a tadpole so that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisy-may-cooper/i-love-being-outside-in-nature-especially-by-the-water-if-i-could-i/) [Daisy May Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisy-may-cooper/) > [A picture is an artificial work, outside nature. It calls for as much cunning as the commission of a crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/a-picture-is-an-artificial-work-outside-nature-it-calls-for-as-much/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [Curing environmental ills requires not a stance outside nature, but a stance within nature, a role not as onlooker without, but as an actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerius-geist/curing-environmental-ills-requires-not-a-stance-outside-nature-but-a/) [Valerius Geist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerius-geist/) ## More by Gerard De Nerval > [“What is madness...to go on platonically loving a woman who will never love you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/what-is-madness-to-go-on-platonically-loving-a-woman-who-will-never/) [Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [“How lovely she was in her raiments of silk and levantine purple; the fabric provocatively set off the sheen of her white shoulders, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/how-lovely-she-was-in-her-raiments-of-silk-and-levantine-purple-the/) [Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [“My brow still burns from the kiss of the queen; I have dreamed in the grotto where the siren swims . . .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/my-brow-still-burns-from-the-kiss-of-the-queen-i-have-dreamed-in-the/) [Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [“Don’t wait up for me tonight, for the night will be black and white.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/don-t-wait-up-for-me-tonight-for-the-night-will-be-black-and-white/) [Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [“Illusions fall away one after another like the husks of a fruit, and that fruit is experience. It is bitter to the taste, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/illusions-fall-away-one-after-another-like-the-husks-of-a-fruit-and/) [Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [“Sleep occupies a third of our life. It is the consolation to the woes of our days or the woe of their pleasures; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/sleep-occupies-a-third-of-our-life-it-is-the-consolation-to-the-woes/) [Gerard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [The intoxication of the faro drinker only shows itself at first by an increase in noise which is only deafening, and finally by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/the-intoxication-of-the-faro-drinker-only-shows-itself-at-first-by-an/) [Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [Man, do you think yours is the only soul? Look around you. Everything that you see quivers with being. Though your thoughts are free,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/man-do-you-think-yours-is-the-only-soul-look-around-you-everything/) [Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [God is dead!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/god-is-dead/) [Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [“The last madness I’ll probably persist in is to believe myself a poet: it will be up to the critics to cure me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/the-last-madness-i-ll-probably-persist-in-is-to-believe-myself-a-poet/) [Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [“It is impossible for a Parisian to resist the desire to flick through the old volumes laid out by a bookseller. \[ Il est…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/it-is-impossible-for-a-parisian-to-resist-the-desire-to-flick-through/) [Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [İstanbul is a magical seal which unites Europe and Asia since the ancient times. Without a doubt, Istanbul is certainly the most beautiful place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/i-stanbul-is-a-magical-seal-which-unites-europe-and-asia-since-the/) [Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [“Everything is alive, everything is in motion, everything corresponds; the magnetic rays that emanate from me or from others flow directly through the infinite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/everything-is-alive-everything-is-in-motion-everything-corresponds/) [Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [I have always differentiated between two types of friends; those who want proofs of friendship, and those who do not. One kind loves me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/i-have-always-differentiated-between-two-types-of-friends-those-who/) [Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) > [“Even as it clouds our corporeal vision, intoxication clarifies our spiritual vision. The mind, set free from the heavy bondage of the body, flees…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/even-as-it-clouds-our-corporeal-vision-intoxication-clarifies-our/) [Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) [Explore all 40 Gerard De Nerval quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. 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To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) [Greg Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-perry/) > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It was an important period for us, because even though we weren't a "punk band", and what became a model for a punk band,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mallinder/it-was-an-important-period-for-us-because-even-though-we-weren-t-a/) [Stephen Mallinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mallinder/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. 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