--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Virtually all native cultures that have…" description: "\"Virtually all native cultures that have survived without fouling their nests have acknowledged that nature knows best, and have had the humility to ask..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/janine-benyus-15049_animal_virtually-all-native-cultures-that-have_1402222.jpg" --- # Virtually all native cultures that have survived without… ![“Virtually all native cultures that have survived without fouling their nests have acknowledged that nature knows best, and have had the humility to ask the bears and wolves and ravens and redwoods for guidance.” quote by Janine Benyus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/janine-benyus-15049_animal_virtually-all-native-cultures-that-have_1402222.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/janine-benyus-15049_animal_virtually-all-native-cultures-that-have_1402222.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/janine-benyus-15049_animal_virtually-all-native-cultures-that-have_1402222.jpg) > “Virtually all native cultures that have survived without fouling their nests have acknowledged that nature knows best, and have had the humility to ask the bears and wolves and ravens and redwoods for guidance.” [Janine Benyus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-benyus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Indigenous cultures respect natural ecosystems, seeking guidance from wildlife and trees, recognizing nature’s wisdom. **In simple terms:** Listen to nature for guidance. Key Takeaway Learn from ecosystems. Themes sustainability humility ecology Mood reflective respectful Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - environmental policy - urban planning - education curricula Key Concepts biomimicry indigenous knowledge Questions to Reflect On - How can you integrate natural wisdom into daily life? - What ecosystems can you learn from? A Different Perspective Modern societies may overlook practical applications of such wisdom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acknowledged Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acknowledged-nature-4917790/) [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Asks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asks/) [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Cultures Survived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cultures-survived-4917788/) [Guidance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guidance/) [Humility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humility/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Native](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/native/) [Native Cultures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/native-cultures-2011142/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-knows-297954/) [Nests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nests/) [Nests Acknowledged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nests-acknowledged-4917789/) [Ravens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ravens/) [Redwoods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/redwoods/) [Survived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survived/) ## Related quotes > [When Europeans arrived on this continent, they blew it with the Native Americans. 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We wouldn't want to emulate them in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-shadyac/look-at-native-cultures-they-ve-lasted-for-tens-of-thousands-of-years/) [Tom Shadyac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-shadyac/) > [“Intercultural business contexts force us to be more self-aware and to rely on words more than we do in our native cultures.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-fleming/intercultural-business-contexts-force-us-to-be-more-self-aware-and-to/) [Sherwood Fleming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-fleming/) > [Nature knows no calendar, the seasons move in a circle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flora-thompson/nature-knows-no-calendar-the-seasons-move-in-a-circle/) [Flora Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flora-thompson/) > [The power, which resides in man, is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-power-which-resides-in-man-is-new-in-nature-and-none-but-he-knows/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“nature, who knows nothing of convention, has the audacity of a genius.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-foley/nature-who-knows-nothing-of-convention-has-the-audacity-of-a-genius/) [Lucy Foley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-foley/) > [Nature knows best how to organise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/nature-knows-best-how-to-organise/) [Maharishi Mahesh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/) > [Nature knows best, and she says, roar!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-edgeworth/nature-knows-best-and-she-says-roar/) [Maria Edgeworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-edgeworth/) > [Nature knows no difference between weeds and flowers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/nature-knows-no-difference-between-weeds-and-flowers/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [He who goes to the bottom of his own heart knows his own nature; And knowing his own nature, he knows heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mencius/he-who-goes-to-the-bottom-of-his-own-heart-knows-his-own-nature-and/) [Mencius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mencius/) > [Why children?' he asked. 'Why always children? For love to end where it begins is far more beautiful, and Nature knows it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/why-children-he-asked-why-always-children-for-love-to-end-where-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-power-which-resides-in-him-is-new-in-nature-and-none-but-he-knows/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Nothing is really small; whoever is open to the deep penetration of nature knows this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/nothing-is-really-small-whoever-is-open-to-the-deep-penetration-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/nature-knows-no-indecencies-man-invents-them/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Nothing is small, in fact; any one who is subject to the profound and penetrating influence of nature knows this.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/nothing-is-small-in-fact-any-one-who-is-subject-to-the-profound-and/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## More by Janine Benyus > [A solitary American monk named Thomas Berry writes that in our relationship to nature, we have been autistic for centuries. Wrapped tightly in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/a-solitary-american-monk-named-thomas-berry-writes-that-in-our/) [Janine Benyus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-benyus/) > [The answers to our questions are everywhere; we just need to change the lens with which we see the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/the-answers-to-our-questions-are-everywhere-we-just-need-to-change/) [Janine Benyus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-benyus/) > [The more our world functions like the natural world, the more likely we are to endure on this home that is ours, but not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/the-more-our-world-functions-like-the-natural-world-the-more-likely/) [Janine Benyus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-benyus/) > [In reality, we haven't escaped the gravity of life at all. We are still beholden to ecological laws, the same as any other life-form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/in-reality-we-haven-t-escaped-the-gravity-of-life-at-all-we-are-still/) [Janine Benyus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-benyus/) > [Organisms don't think of CO2 as a poison. 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He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? 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It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Virtually all native cultures that have survived without fouling their nests have acknowledged that nature knows best, and have had the humility to ask the bears and wolves and ravens and redwoods for guidance.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Janine Benyus" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/virtually-all-native-cultures-that-have-survived-without-fouling/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/virtually-all-native-cultures-that-have-survived-without-fouling/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/janine-benyus-15049_animal_virtually-all-native-cultures-that-have_1402222.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/janine-benyus-15049_animal_virtually-all-native-cultures-that-have_1402222.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/janine-benyus-15049_animal_virtually-all-native-cultures-that-have_1402222.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Virtually all native cultures that have survived without fouling their nests have acknowledged that nature…” — Janine Benyus", "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": "Janine Benyus", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-benyus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Virtually all native cultures that have...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/virtually-all-native-cultures-that-have-survived-without-fouling/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/virtually-all-native-cultures-that-have-survived-without-fouling/#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 } } ] } ```