---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Wilderness is good, it gives me…"
description: "\"“Wilderness is good, it gives me perspective. I get small again, the ego deflates.”\" — Jan Karon"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/jan-karon-2637_nature_wilderness-is-good-it-gives-me-perspecti_999753.png"
---

#  Wilderness is good, it gives me perspective. I get small…

![“Wilderness is good, it gives me perspective. I get small again, the ego deflates.” quote by Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/jan-karon-2637_nature_wilderness-is-good-it-gives-me-perspecti_999753.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/jan-karon-2637_nature_wilderness-is-good-it-gives-me-perspecti_999753.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/jan-karon-2637_nature_wilderness-is-good-it-gives-me-perspecti_999753.png)

> ““Wilderness is good, it gives me perspective. I get small again, the ego deflates.””

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Nature provides a humbling perspective that reduces ego and reconnects one with simplicity.

**In simple terms:** Nature helps us stay modest and grounded.

Key Takeaway

Spend time outdoors to reset your mindset.

Themes

nature humility self-awareness

Mood

reflective calm

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- hiking trips
- urban parks
- personal retreats

Key Concepts

perspective shift ego reduction spiritual renewal

Questions to Reflect On

- How does nature affect your sense of self?
- What simple natural experiences restore humility?

A Different Perspective

Urban life may limit access to wilderness.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Ego Deflates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego-deflates-2101232/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Perspective Small](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective-small-1398760/) [Small Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-ego-2101233/) [Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness/) [Wilderness Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness-good-2101231/)

## Related quotes

> [I am asserting that those who love the wilderness should not be wholly deprived of it, that while the reduction of the wilderness has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/i-am-asserting-that-those-who-love-the-wilderness-should-not-be/)

[Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/)

> [Sometimes I have a tough time getting along with myself. When I was a child, I needed a lot of attention... and I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-ben-israel/sometimes-i-have-a-tough-time-getting-along-with-myself-when-i-was-a/)

[Ron Ben-Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-ben-israel/)

> [Infinitesimal braggadocio I'm but since you most likely don't understand me with using big words I use small words to say I have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mrawesome/infinitesimal-braggadocio-i-m-but-since-you-most-likely-don-t/)

[MrAwesome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mrawesome/)

> [I think the perspective that small-town directors bring to films is very different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-kashyap/i-think-the-perspective-that-small-town-directors-bring-to-films-is/)

[Anurag Kashyap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-kashyap/)

> [“We are all the heroes of our own stories, and one of the arts of perspective is to see yourself small on the stage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/we-are-all-the-heroes-of-our-own-stories-and-one-of-the-arts-of/)

[Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/)

> [“This concept upends the way most people think about their subjective experience of life. We tend to place a lot of emphasis on our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/this-concept-upends-the-way-most-people-think-about-their-subjective/)

[Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/)

> [Well you'd see a very dramatic change in the perspective of small businesses, entrepreneurs, middle-size businesses, and perhaps even some large multinationals. They'd say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitt-romney/well-you-d-see-a-very-dramatic-change-in-the-perspective-of-small/)

[Mitt Romney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitt-romney/)

> [Simplicity in all things is the secret of the wilderness and one of its most valuable lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigurd-f-olson/simplicity-in-all-things-is-the-secret-of-the-wilderness-and-one-of/)

[Sigurd F. Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigurd-f-olson/)

> [While cares will drop off like autumn leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/while-cares-will-drop-off-like-autumn-leaves/)

[John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/)

> [If I were entering adulthood now instead of in the environment of fifty years ago, I would choose a career that kept me in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/if-i-were-entering-adulthood-now-instead-of-in-the-environment-of/)

[Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/)

> [Although their parents died in the wilderness for their stubbornness, Israel could profit from the older generation's failure by remembering that God had used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-anders/although-their-parents-died-in-the-wilderness-for-their-stubbornness/)

[Max Anders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-anders/)

> [Many people go into the wilderness to experience it, and if they experience it in comfort, there's very little in a literary sense for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cahill/many-people-go-into-the-wilderness-to-experience-it-and-if-they/)

[Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/)

> [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/)

[Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/)

> [“In the same way that the picturesque designers were always careful to include some reminder of our mortality in their gardens -- a ruin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/in-the-same-way-that-the-picturesque-designers-were-always-careful-to/)

[Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/)

> [“In the United States law, federally designated wilderness is famously defined as 'an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-marris/in-the-united-states-law-federally-designated-wilderness-is-famously/)

[Emma Marris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-marris/)

## More by Jan Karon

> [“In every way, un-forgiveness makes us the victim—”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/in-every-way-un-forgiveness-makes-us-the-victim/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [In Ireland there’s no such thing as bad weather ~~~ only the wrong clothes. (In the Company of Others)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/in-ireland-there-s-no-such-thing-as-bad-weather-only-the-wrong/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [“Sorrow and joy, he thought, so inextricably entwined that he could scarcely tell where one left off and the other began.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/sorrow-and-joy-he-thought-so-inextricably-entwined-that-he-could/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [“Maybe the best way to honor the deceased was to laugh with the living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/maybe-the-best-way-to-honor-the-deceased-was-to-laugh-with-the-living/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [Paul said in the second epistle...the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine...they will accumulate for themselves teachers to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/paul-said-in-the-second-epistle-the-time-is-coming-when-people-will/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [This is a gift that God has given me. I'm not smart enough to write for everybody, but it's the love in these books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/this-is-a-gift-that-god-has-given-me-i-m-not-smart-enough-to-write/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [Publishing is, by its nature, about deadlines, and deadlines are toxic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/publishing-is-by-its-nature-about-deadlines-and-deadlines-are-toxic/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [The firefly only shines when on the wing, So it is with us--when we stop, we darken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/the-firefly-only-shines-when-on-the-wing-so-it-is-with-us-when-we/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [“Thank you, God, for second chances,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/thank-you-god-for-second-chances/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [“Fear is one of the Enemy’s deadliest strategies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/fear-is-one-of-the-enemy-s-deadliest-strategies/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [“For one thing, telling a lie is like eating peanuts. One leads to another. In no time at all, you’ve gone through a bagful.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/for-one-thing-telling-a-lie-is-like-eating-peanuts-one-leads-to/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [“And so I enjoyed the warm feelings, the stuff of the heart, when it was present between us, as it sometimes was, even in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/and-so-i-enjoyed-the-warm-feelings-the-stuff-of-the-heart-when-it-was/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [“One of the things that makes a dead leaf fall to the ground is the bud of the new leaf that pushes it off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/one-of-the-things-that-makes-a-dead-leaf-fall-to-the-ground-is-the/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [“He’d been amped for a long time; actually, everybody he knew was amped. He would like to spend the rest of his life de-amping.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/he-d-been-amped-for-a-long-time-actually-everybody-he-knew-was-amped/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

> [“All people are children when they sleep. There’s no war in them then . . . They . . . open their hands halfway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/all-people-are-children-when-they-sleep-there-s-no-war-in-them-then/)

[Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

[Explore all 156 Jan Karon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/)

## More Nature quotes

> [It is indeed a surprising and fortunate fact that nature can be expressed by relatively low-order mathematical functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-carnap/it-is-indeed-a-surprising-and-fortunate-fact-that-nature-can-be/)

[Rudolf Carnap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-carnap/)

> [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/)

[Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/)

> [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Borrow trouble for yourself, if that's your nature, but don't lend it to your neighbours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/borrow-trouble-for-yourself-if-that-s-your-nature-but-don-t-lend-it/)

[Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/)

> [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/)

[Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/)

> [“Men mistook measurement for understanding. And they always had to put themselves at the center of everything. That was their greatest conceit. The earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/men-mistook-measurement-for-understanding-and-they-always-had-to-put/)

[Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/)

> [“She was, he knew- and had known very early, he supposed- one of those rare and always lovely humans whose moral nature was so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-williams/she-was-he-knew-and-had-known-very-early-he-supposed-one-of-those/)

[John Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-williams/)

> [“When the water covers the earth the sun will vanish the darkess and the cold will come.When the last dragon and the last Elf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silvana-de-mari/when-the-water-covers-the-earth-the-sun-will-vanish-the-darkess-and/)

[Silvana de Mari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silvana-de-mari/)

> [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/)

[Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/)

> [“It is not the force of the wind, but the depth of the roots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/it-is-not-the-force-of-the-wind-but-the-depth-of-the-roots/)

[Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/)

> [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/)

[William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/)

> [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/)

[Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/)

[Browse all 47,383 Nature quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Wilderness is good, it gives me perspective. I get small again, the ego deflates.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Jan Karon"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/wilderness-is-good-it-gives-me-perspective-i-get-small-again-the-ego/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Nature"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/wilderness-is-good-it-gives-me-perspective-i-get-small-again-the-ego/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/jan-karon-2637_nature_wilderness-is-good-it-gives-me-perspecti_999753.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/jan-karon-2637_nature_wilderness-is-good-it-gives-me-perspecti_999753.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/jan-karon-2637_nature_wilderness-is-good-it-gives-me-perspecti_999753.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Wilderness is good, it gives me perspective. I get small again, the ego deflates.” — Jan Karon",
                "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": "Jan Karon",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Wilderness is good, it gives me...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/wilderness-is-good-it-gives-me-perspective-i-get-small-again-the-ego/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/wilderness-is-good-it-gives-me-perspective-i-get-small-again-the-ego/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
