--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can't divorce civilization from…" description: "\"You can't divorce civilization from nature - we totally depend on it.\" — James Balog" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3f/james-balog-18078_civilization_you-can-t-divorce-civilization-from-natu_3054303.png" --- # You can't divorce civilization from nature - we totally… ![“You can't divorce civilization from nature - we totally depend on it.” quote by James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3f/james-balog-18078_civilization_you-can-t-divorce-civilization-from-natu_3054303.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3f/james-balog-18078_civilization_you-can-t-divorce-civilization-from-natu_3054303.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3f/james-balog-18078_civilization_you-can-t-divorce-civilization-from-natu_3054303.png) > “You can't divorce civilization from nature - we totally depend on it.” [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human civilization and nature are inseparable; our survival depends on ecological harmony. **In simple terms:** Civilization relies on nature. Key Takeaway Protect natural systems. Themes environment interdependence sustainability Mood concerned inspired Type activist educational When to use this quote - urban planning - climate activism - education - business strategy Key Concepts ecology anthropology policy conservation Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance development and nature? - What actions can you take to support ecosystems? A Different Perspective May ignore economic pressures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Divorce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divorce/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Organisms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organisms/) ## Related quotes > [Early in my career I discovered that there was something really special about photographing at night that places your mind on the surface of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/early-in-my-career-i-discovered-that-there-was-something-really/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [We as a culture are forgetting that we are actually natural organisms and that we have this very, very deep connection and contact with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/we-as-a-culture-are-forgetting-that-we-are-actually-natural-organisms/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [How will you go about finding that thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/how-will-you-go-about-finding-that-thing-the-nature-of-which-is/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [Put your trust in the One who created you, you can totally depend on Him. 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Whether it's laying out a garden,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/as-human-beings-we-are-the-only-organisms-that-create-for-the-sheer/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) ## More by James Balog > [We still carry this old caveman-imprint idea that we're small, nature's big, and it's everything we can manage to hang on and survive. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/we-still-carry-this-old-caveman-imprint-idea-that-we-re-small-nature/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [Climate change should not fundamentally be seen as a political or partisan issue, but it has been turned into a political football primarily by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/climate-change-should-not-fundamentally-be-seen-as-a-political-or/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [Once upon a time, I was a climate-change skeptic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/once-upon-a-time-i-was-a-climate-change-skeptic/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [I've always believed that photography is a way to shape human perception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/i-ve-always-believed-that-photography-is-a-way-to-shape-human/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves an essential spiritual and ethical question: Are we the kind of people who take everything for ourselves and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/ultimately-we-have-to-ask-ourselves-an-essential-spiritual-and/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [You know, I've read Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' about fifteen times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/you-know-i-ve-read-joseph-conrad-s-heart-of-darkness-about-fifteen/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [Hindsight can be merciless. People of any given era often look back in time and wonder how their predecessors could have been so dimwitted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/hindsight-can-be-merciless-people-of-any-given-era-often-look-back-in/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [It's important to recognise that humans are not the measure of all things... The Earth is the measure of all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/it-s-important-to-recognise-that-humans-are-not-the-measure-of-all/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [The problem is almost everybody is just recording the world with home photographic toys, not doing metaphor or ideas. 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And when I worked with trees,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/when-i-worked-with-wildlife-a-lot-in-the-eighties-and-nineties-i/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [I've got at least two major project ideas that I've been chewing on for several years in my head and I've been trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/i-ve-got-at-least-two-major-project-ideas-that-i-ve-been-chewing-on/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [You know, we humans are programmed to think that big changes on the Earth happened a long time ago, or will happen a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/you-know-we-humans-are-programmed-to-think-that-big-changes-on-the/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [I was raised a Catholic as a boy and went to a Catholic boys' high school, a private school, and kind of drifted away,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/i-was-raised-a-catholic-as-a-boy-and-went-to-a-catholic-boys-high/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [Climate change is a really abstract thing in most of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/climate-change-is-a-really-abstract-thing-in-most-of-the-world/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) [Explore all 35 James Balog quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) [Browse all 4,084 Civilization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You can't divorce civilization from nature - we totally depend on it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Balog" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/you-can-t-divorce-civilization-from-nature-we-totally-depend-on-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civilization" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/you-can-t-divorce-civilization-from-nature-we-totally-depend-on-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3f/james-balog-18078_civilization_you-can-t-divorce-civilization-from-natu_3054303.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3f/james-balog-18078_civilization_you-can-t-divorce-civilization-from-natu_3054303.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3f/james-balog-18078_civilization_you-can-t-divorce-civilization-from-natu_3054303.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You can't divorce civilization from nature - we totally depend on it.” — James Balog", "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": "James Balog", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You can't divorce civilization from nature...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/you-can-t-divorce-civilization-from-nature-we-totally-depend-on-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/you-can-t-divorce-civilization-from-nature-we-totally-depend-on-it/#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 } } ] } ```