--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our civilization has fallen out of touch…" description: "\"Our civilization has fallen out of touch with night. With lights, we drive the holiness and beauty of night back to the forests and the sea; the little..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/henry-beston-13852_austerity_our-civilization-has-fallen-out-of-touch_810076.png" --- # Our civilization has fallen out of touch with night. With… ![“Our civilization has fallen out of touch with night. With lights, we drive the holiness and beauty of night back to the forests and the sea; the little villages, the crossroads even, will have none of it. Are modern folk, perhaps, afraid of night? Do they fear that vast serenity, the mystery of…” quote by Henry Beston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/henry-beston-13852_austerity_our-civilization-has-fallen-out-of-touch_810076.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/henry-beston-13852_austerity_our-civilization-has-fallen-out-of-touch_810076.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/henry-beston-13852_austerity_our-civilization-has-fallen-out-of-touch_810076.png) > “Our civilization has fallen out of touch with night. With lights, we drive the holiness and beauty of night back to the forests and the sea; the little villages, the crossroads even, will have none of it. Are modern folk, perhaps, afraid of night? Do they fear that vast serenity, the mystery of infinite space, the austerity of stars?” [Henry Beston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-beston/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern society disconnects from night, losing its mystery and serenity. **In simple terms:** We’ve forgotten the beauty of night. Key Takeaway Re‑engage with nighttime wonder. Themes nature modernity night serenity Mood contemplative melancholic Type reflective inspirational When to use this quote - urban living - camping - stargazing - night photography Key Concepts environmental loss cultural shift psychology of fear Questions to Reflect On - What draws you to night’s calm? - How can we protect night spaces? A Different Perspective Night can feel unsafe, limiting appreciation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Austerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/austerity/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Crossroads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crossroads/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Forests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forests/) [Holiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holiness/) [Infinite space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infinite-space/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Serenity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serenity/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Village](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/village/) ## Related quotes > [“Our fantastic civilization has fallen out of touch with many aspects of nature, and with none more completely than with night. 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Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwaun-s-cox/) > [Lost in a haunted wood, Children afraid of the night Who have never been happy or good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/lost-in-a-haunted-wood-children-afraid-of-the-night-who-have-never/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Why am I so afraid of the night? My silhouette it taunts me.My lack of faith in this beautiful life my knowing of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/he-is-we/why-am-i-so-afraid-of-the-night-my-silhouette-it-taunts-me-my-lack-of/) He Is We > [We're only getting older, baby And I've been thinking about it lately Does it ever drive you crazy Just how fast the night changes?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crystall/we-re-only-getting-older-baby-and-i-ve-been-thinking-about-it-lately/) Crystall > [One night as I girl I spied my grandma and one of her sisters outside, holding hands and singing, "Sprites of the night are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-hunt/one-night-as-i-girl-i-spied-my-grandma-and-one-of-her-sisters-outside/) [Samantha Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-hunt/) > [We're only getting older baby, And I've been thinking about you lately. Does it ever drive you crazy, Just how fast the night changes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/one-direction/we-re-only-getting-older-baby-and-i-ve-been-thinking-about-you-lately/) [One Direction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/one-direction/) > [No owl is afraid of the night, no snake of the swamp and no traitor of the treason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/no-owl-is-afraid-of-the-night-no-snake-of-the-swamp-and-no-traitor-of/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“I have loved the stars to fondly to be afraid of the night.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknowen/i-have-loved-the-stars-to-fondly-to-be-afraid-of-the-night/) [unknowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unknowen/) > [Life is a dream in the night, a fear among fears, A naked runner lost in a storm of spears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-a-dream-in-the-night-a-fear-among-fears-a-naked-runner-lost/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I tell myself it's a virtue, my failure to sleep in my own house, or at all. I tell myself that I spend more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-julavits/i-tell-myself-it-s-a-virtue-my-failure-to-sleep-in-my-own-house-or-at/) [Heidi Julavits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-julavits/) > [“At night our fear is strong . . . but in the morning, in the light, we find our courage again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malala-yousafzai/at-night-our-fear-is-strong-but-in-the-morning-in-the-light-we-find/) [Malala Yousafzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malala-yousafzai/) > [In the depths of the night, fear grips my heart. It paralyzes my mind. But most of all, I feel very, very alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/in-the-depths-of-the-night-fear-grips-my-heart-it-paralyzes-my-mind/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [I do this so you cannot help but hear. A wise man views a moonless night with fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/i-do-this-so-you-cannot-help-but-hear-a-wise-man-views-a-moonless/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) ## More by Henry Beston > [We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice, man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-beston/we-need-another-and-a-wiser-and-perhaps-a-more-mystical-concept-of/) [Henry Beston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-beston/) > [“It may seem odd to contemporary readers to think of the natural year as a metaphor by which we live. 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In a world older than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-beston/the-animal-should-not-be-measured-by-man-in-a-world-older-than-ours/) [Henry Beston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-beston/) > [Do no dishonour to the earth least you dishonour the spirit of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-beston/do-no-dishonour-to-the-earth-least-you-dishonour-the-spirit-of-man/) [Henry Beston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-beston/) > [If gardeners will forget a little the phrase, "watering the plants" and think of watering as a matter of "watering the earth" under the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-beston/if-gardeners-will-forget-a-little-the-phrase-watering-the-plants-and/) [Henry Beston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-beston/) > [We of the age of the machines, having delivered ourselves of nocturnal enemies, now have a dislike of night itself. 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