--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We must not wait for favours from Nature…" description: "\"“We must not wait for favours from Nature; our task is to wrest them from her.”\" — Ivan Michurin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/ivan-michurin-244228_discovery_we-must-not-wait-for-favours-from-nature_460626.jpg" --- # We must not wait for favours from Nature; our task is to… ![“We must not wait for favours from Nature; our task is to wrest them from her.” quote by Ivan Michurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/ivan-michurin-244228_discovery_we-must-not-wait-for-favours-from-nature_460626.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/ivan-michurin-244228_discovery_we-must-not-wait-for-favours-from-nature_460626.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/ivan-michurin-244228_discovery_we-must-not-wait-for-favours-from-nature_460626.jpg) > ““We must not wait for favours from Nature; our task is to wrest them from her.”” Ivan Michurin ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human ingenuity must actively harness nature’s gifts rather than await favors, turning challenges into opportunities. **In simple terms:** Don't wait for nature; actively shape outcomes. Key Takeaway Take proactive steps to work with nature. Themes innovation nature agency agriculture human effort Mood determined optimistic energetic Type statement inspirational historical When to use this quote - farming - policy development - education Key Concepts agronomy environmental science history Questions to Reflect On - What can you do today to turn a natural challenge into a solution? - How does proactive stewardship change outcomes? A Different Perspective Passive reliance on nature can limit progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Favours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/favours/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Optimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimism/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [The task of evolutionary psychology is not to weigh in on human nature, a task better left to others. It is to add the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-task-of-evolutionary-psychology-is-not-to-weigh-in-on-human/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Favours unused are favours abused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russyb/favours-unused-are-favours-abused/) Russyb > [Barack Obama's decision to come out in favour of gay marriage may be a historic occasion, but it is not an isolated one. His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/barack-obama-s-decision-to-come-out-in-favour-of-gay-marriage-may-be/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [Those who sentimentally indulge humanity do it no favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/those-who-sentimentally-indulge-humanity-do-it-no-favours/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Fortune favours the audacious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desiderius-erasmus/fortune-favours-the-audacious/) [Desiderius Erasmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desiderius-erasmus/) > [“Unwanted favours gain no gratitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/unwanted-favours-gain-no-gratitude/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [False world, thou ly'st: thou canst not lend The least delight: Thy favours cannot gain a friend, They are so slight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/false-world-thou-ly-st-thou-canst-not-lend-the-least-delight-thy/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [I'm not one of those actors who asks for too many favours. So when I do, people tend to listen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-kwanten/i-m-not-one-of-those-actors-who-asks-for-too-many-favours-so-when-i/) [Ryan Kwanten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-kwanten/) > [“Do someone a favour, you make a friend; favour 'em too much, you make an enemy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huseyn-raza/do-someone-a-favour-you-make-a-friend-favour-em-too-much-you-make-an/) [Huseyn Raza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huseyn-raza/) > [I'm tired of people thinking they're doing me favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-thomas-ford/i-m-tired-of-people-thinking-they-re-doing-me-favours/) [Michael Thomas Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-thomas-ford/) > [“A little "thank you" that you will say to someone for a "little favour" shown to you is a key to unlock the doors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/a-little-thank-you-that-you-will-say-to-someone-for-a-little-favour/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [The gratitude of place-expectants is a lively sense of future favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-walpole/the-gratitude-of-place-expectants-is-a-lively-sense-of-future-favours/) [Robert Walpole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-walpole/) > [Favours out of place I regard as positive injuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/favours-out-of-place-i-regard-as-positive-injuries/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [When men receive favours from someone they expected to do them ill, they are under a greater obligation to their benefactor...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/when-men-receive-favours-from-someone-they-expected-to-do-them-ill/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Men are never attached to you by favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/men-are-never-attached-to-you-by-favours/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) ## More Discovery quotes > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Throughout my work, I have assumed that the standard model is correct, and hence, the Higgs boson should be found. Although this is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashoke-sen/throughout-my-work-i-have-assumed-that-the-standard-model-is-correct/) [Ashoke Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashoke-sen/) > [There is usually no dreamer so unworldly as the anthologist. He wanders in a vast garden, lost in wonder, unable to decide often between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/there-is-usually-no-dreamer-so-unworldly-as-the-anthologist-he/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [New generations of humans inherit the acquired discoveries of generations past, allowing cosmic insight to accumulate without limit. Each discovery of science therefore adds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/new-generations-of-humans-inherit-the-acquired-discoveries-of/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The discovery that heartbreak is indeed heartbreaking consoles us about our humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-discovery-that-heartbreak-is-indeed-heartbreaking-consoles-us/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [We cannot predict the new forces, powers, and discoveries that will be disclosed to us when we reach the other planets and set up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/we-cannot-predict-the-new-forces-powers-and-discoveries-that-will-be/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [ That has been another interesting discovery: that basically a city \[Lagos\] could recover from a really deep, deep, deep pit. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/that-has-been-another-interesting-discovery-that-basically-a-city/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [Every fact of science was once Damned. Every invention was considered impossible. Every discovery was a nervous shock to some orthodoxy. Every artistic innovation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/every-fact-of-science-was-once-damned-every-invention-was-considered/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [When we look at the love of Christ, we make a wonderful discovery. Love is more a decision than an emotion! Christ-like love applauds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/when-we-look-at-the-love-of-christ-we-make-a-wonderful-discovery-love/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things. Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/discovery-is-the-ability-to-be-puzzled-by-simple-things-noam-chomsky/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“In December of 2007 human bones including skulls, which have been radiocarbon dated back to between 1304 and 1424, were found in a museum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-one/in-december-of-2007-human-bones-including-skulls-which-have-been/) Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One > [The European talks of progress because by the aid of a few scientific discoveries he has established a society which has mistaken comfort for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/the-european-talks-of-progress-because-by-the-aid-of-a-few-scientific/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/education-is-a-progressive-discovery-of-our-own-ignorance/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities. That is why I am equally fond of them all and equally horrified by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-characters-in-my-novels-are-my-own-unrealized-possibilities-that/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) [Browse all 3,125 Discovery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We must not wait for favours from Nature; our task is to wrest them from her.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ivan Michurin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-michurin/we-must-not-wait-for-favours-from-nature-our-task-is-to-wrest-them/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Discovery" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-michurin/we-must-not-wait-for-favours-from-nature-our-task-is-to-wrest-them/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/ivan-michurin-244228_discovery_we-must-not-wait-for-favours-from-nature_460626.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/ivan-michurin-244228_discovery_we-must-not-wait-for-favours-from-nature_460626.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/ivan-michurin-244228_discovery_we-must-not-wait-for-favours-from-nature_460626.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We must not wait for favours from Nature; our task is to wrest them from her.” — Ivan Michurin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ivan Michurin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-michurin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“We must not wait for favours...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-michurin/we-must-not-wait-for-favours-from-nature-our-task-is-to-wrest-them/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-michurin/we-must-not-wait-for-favours-from-nature-our-task-is-to-wrest-them/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```