Bones Quote by Jay Woodman
““Objects and Objectives To contemplate LEGO. Many colours. Many shapes. Many inventive and useful shapes. Plastic. A versatile and practical substance. Symbolic of the resourcefulness of man. Oil taken from the depths of the very earth. Distillation of said raw material. Chemical processes. Pollution. Creating a product providing hours of constructive play. For children all over the world. Teaching our young. Through enjoyment. Preparing them for further resourcefulness. The progress of our kind. A book. Many books. Proud liners of walls. Fingered. Taken out with great care. Held open. Gazed upon / into with something like awe. A medium for the recording of and communication of knowledge. From the many to the many. Down the ages. And of art. And of love. But do you hear the trees outside whispering? Do their voices haunt you? No wonder. They are calling for their brothers. Pulped. Pressed. Coated. Printed. Bound. And for their other brothers which made the shelves to hold them. And for the roof over them as well. From the very beginning - everything at cost. A cave man, to get food, had to deal with the killing. And the bones from one death proved very useful for implementing the death of another.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: “Objects and Objectives” by Jay Woodman, 2023
The passage reflects on how everyday materials and objects—from LEGO bricks to books—embody human ingenuity, resourcefulness, and the environmental costs behind their creation, urging awareness of both creativity and ecological impact.
In simple terms: Every object shows human creativity and its environmental price.
Recognize and balance innovation with ecological responsibility.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- teaching children
- design thinking
- environmental advocacy
- product development
- literary analysis
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we redesign everyday items to reduce waste?
- What responsibilities do creators have toward the environment?
It may romanticize objects without proposing concrete solutions to pollution.