--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nature's great masterpiece, an elephant…" description: "\"Nature's great masterpiece, an elephant; the only harmless great thing.\" — John Donne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/john-donne-933_elephant_nature-s-great-masterpiece-an-elephant-t_233017.png" --- # Nature's great masterpiece, an elephant; the only harmless… ![“Nature's great masterpiece, an elephant; the only harmless great thing.” quote by John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/john-donne-933_elephant_nature-s-great-masterpiece-an-elephant-t_233017.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/john-donne-933_elephant_nature-s-great-masterpiece-an-elephant-t_233017.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/john-donne-933_elephant_nature-s-great-masterpiece-an-elephant-t_233017.png) > “Nature's great masterpiece, an elephant; the only harmless great thing.” [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Elephants embody gentle grandeur, contrasting with other powerful but harmful beings. **In simple terms:** Elephants are big and harmless. Key Takeaway Appreciate gentle strength. Themes nature gentle power contrasts Mood reflective reverent Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - wildlife conservation - educational talks - artistic inspiration Key Concepts symbolism animal metaphor philosophy Questions to Reflect On - Why are elephants seen as harmless? - What other “great” beings are gentle? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex ecological roles. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Elephant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elephant/) [Masterpiece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masterpiece/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [Architecture is supposed to complete nature. Great architecture makes nature more beautiful-it gives it power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudio-silvestrin/architecture-is-supposed-to-complete-nature-great-architecture-makes/) Claudio Silvestrin > [“Our Father who art in nature...must have a great and overwhelming love for no-goods and blots-on-the-town and bums, and Mack and the boys.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/our-father-who-art-in-nature-must-have-a-great-and-overwhelming-love/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Do not talk about your greatness; you are really, in essential nature, no great than those around you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-d-wattles/do-not-talk-about-your-greatness-you-are-really-in-essential-nature-2/) [Wallace D. Wattles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-d-wattles/) > [The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, precisely in order that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/the-diversity-of-the-phenomena-of-nature-is-so-great-and-the/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [I feel like that nature has this great power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-feel-like-that-nature-has-this-great-power/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [Self-preservation, nature's first great law, all the creatures, except man, doth awe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-marvell/self-preservation-nature-s-first-great-law-all-the-creatures-except/) [Andrew Marvell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-marvell/) > [Mother Nature is the great equalizer. You can't get away from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-heyerdahl/mother-nature-is-the-great-equalizer-you-can-t-get-away-from-it/) [Christopher Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-heyerdahl/) > [Nature is also great fun. To pretend that nature isn't fun is to miss much of the joy of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/nature-is-also-great-fun-to-pretend-that-nature-isn-t-fun-is-to-miss/) [Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/) > [For all Nature is as one Great Engine, made by, and held in His Hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nehemiah-grew/for-all-nature-is-as-one-great-engine-made-by-and-held-in-his-hand/) Nehemiah Grew > [By firm immutable immortal laws Impress'd on Nature by the GREAT FIRST CAUSE, Say, MUSE! how rose from elemental strife Organic forms, and kindled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erasmus-darwin/by-firm-immutable-immortal-laws-impress-d-on-nature-by-the-great/) [Erasmus Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erasmus-darwin/) > [It's not human nature to be great. It's human nature to survive, to be average and do what you have to do to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-saban/it-s-not-human-nature-to-be-great-it-s-human-nature-to-survive-to-be/) [Nick Saban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-saban/) > [Nature's great book is written in mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/nature-s-great-book-is-written-in-mathematics/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [Take God from nature, nothing great is left.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/take-god-from-nature-nothing-great-is-left/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [Next to the Bible, nature is to be our great lesson book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/next-to-the-bible-nature-is-to-be-our-great-lesson-book/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [Nature is one great big wood-chipper. Sooner or later, everything shoots out the other end in a spray of blood, bones and hair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/nature-is-one-great-big-wood-chipper-sooner-or-later-everything/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) ## More by John Donne > [Our critical day is not the very day of our death; but the whole course of our life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/our-critical-day-is-not-the-very-day-of-our-death-but-the-whole/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [But I do nothing upon myself, and yet I am my own executioner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/but-i-do-nothing-upon-myself-and-yet-i-am-my-own-executioner/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/all-mankind-is-of-one-author-and-is-one-volume-when-one-man-dies-one/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [We study health, and we deliberate upon our meats and drink and air and exercises, and we hew and we polish every stone that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/we-study-health-and-we-deliberate-upon-our-meats-and-drink-and-air/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Commemoration of Pandita Mary Ramabai, Translator of the Scriptures, 1922 A memory of yesterday's pleasures, a fear of tomorrow's dangers, a straw under my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/commemoration-of-pandita-mary-ramabai-translator-of-the-scriptures/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Various content To your eyes, ears, and tongue, and every part. If then your body go, what need you a heart?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/various-content-to-your-eyes-ears-and-tongue-and-every-part-if-then/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [“Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ; That I may rise,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/batter-my-heart-three-person-d-god-for-you-as-yet-but-knock-breathe/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Young men mend not their sight by using old men's spectacles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/young-men-mend-not-their-sight-by-using-old-men-s-spectacles/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [That which attempts to elevate the ugly to the level of beauty becomes neither; but an obscenity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/that-which-attempts-to-elevate-the-ugly-to-the-level-of-beauty/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [For I am every dead thing In whom love wrought new alchemy For his art did express A quintessence even from nothingness, From dull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/for-i-am-every-dead-thing-in-whom-love-wrought-new-alchemy-for-his/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [As states subsist in part by keeping their weaknesses from being known, so is it the quiet of families to have their chancery and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/as-states-subsist-in-part-by-keeping-their-weaknesses-from-being/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [All Kings, and all their favorites, All glory of honors, beauties, wits, The sun itself, which makes times, as they pass, Is elder by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/all-kings-and-all-their-favorites-all-glory-of-honors-beauties-wits/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [On a huge hill, Cragged, and steep, Truth stands, and hee that will Reach her, about must, and about must goo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/on-a-huge-hill-cragged-and-steep-truth-stands-and-hee-that-will-reach/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [How many times go we to comedies, to masques, to places of great and noble resort, nay even to church only to see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/how-many-times-go-we-to-comedies-to-masques-to-places-of-great-and/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, And poppy, or charms, can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/thou-art-slave-to-fate-chance-kings-and-desperate-men-and-dost-with/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) [Explore all 325 John Donne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) ## More Elephant quotes > [“As I remarked before, the Asiatic elephant is smaller than the African, which is frequently twelve feet high, and its tusks are in proportion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-verne/as-i-remarked-before-the-asiatic-elephant-is-smaller-than-the-african/) [Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-verne/) > [I watched a film called 'Elephant' recently. Its not stylish in the sense of expensive suits and Italian cars, but the styling on every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tinie-tempah/i-watched-a-film-called-elephant-recently-its-not-stylish-in-the/) [Tinie Tempah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tinie-tempah/) > [I think success is a relative term. If you're a caveman, success is capturing an elephant. Success is achieving better than the norm. Success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-taffer/i-think-success-is-a-relative-term-if-you-re-a-caveman-success-is/) [Jon Taffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-taffer/) > [“How much does an elephant weigh? ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-patton/how-much-does-an-elephant-weigh/) Rhonda Patton > [“Money, you could say, was the elephant in The Room .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-sestero/money-you-could-say-was-the-elephant-in-the-room/) [Greg Sestero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-sestero/) > [“The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-nakoneczny-high-school-track-coach/the-best-way-to-eat-an-elephant-is-one-bite-at-a-time/) Wayne Nakoneczny high school track coach > [I've been told I looked like I swallowed an elephant or a pig, whichever was more fitting that day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katelyn-ohashi/i-ve-been-told-i-looked-like-i-swallowed-an-elephant-or-a-pig/) [Katelyn Ohashi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katelyn-ohashi/) > [My first experience with film was through a still camera. I would sit, very much against my will, with my father in the game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavid-hood/my-first-experience-with-film-was-through-a-still-camera-i-would-sit/) [Gavid Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavid-hood/) > [If you've never seen an elephant ski, then you've never been on acid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-izzard/if-you-ve-never-seen-an-elephant-ski-then-you-ve-never-been-on-acid/) [Eddie Izzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-izzard/) > [Unlike the primate hand, the elephant's grasping organ is also its nose. Elephants use their trunks not only to reach food but also to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/unlike-the-primate-hand-the-elephant-s-grasping-organ-is-also-its/) [Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/) > [And that is how Goodwin problems were always fixed. Fix them on the surface but don't go to the root, always ignoring the elephant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/and-that-is-how-goodwin-problems-were-always-fixed-fix-them-on-the/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) > [I like my stationery to be funnier, like, 'Here's my note, and it's an elephant with a lady smoking a cigarette on top.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-spade/i-like-my-stationery-to-be-funnier-like-here-s-my-note-and-it-s-an/) [Kate Spade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-spade/) > [“It was the size of an ox, of a bull elephant, of a lifetime. It stared at them, and it paused for a hundred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/it-was-the-size-of-an-ox-of-a-bull-elephant-of-a-lifetime-it-stared/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [While I had often said that I wanted to die in bed, what I really meant was that in my old age I wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/while-i-had-often-said-that-i-wanted-to-die-in-bed-what-i-really/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [No Child Left Behind ... is a giraffe with an elephant's body. ... You can't take the vision of Ted Kennedy and merge it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-rauschenberger/no-child-left-behind-is-a-giraffe-with-an-elephant-s-body-you-can-t/) Steve Rauschenberger [Browse all 316 Elephant quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elephant/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nature's great masterpiece, an elephant; the only harmless great thing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Donne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/nature-s-great-masterpiece-an-elephant-the-only-harmless-great-thing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Elephant" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/nature-s-great-masterpiece-an-elephant-the-only-harmless-great-thing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/john-donne-933_elephant_nature-s-great-masterpiece-an-elephant-t_233017.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/john-donne-933_elephant_nature-s-great-masterpiece-an-elephant-t_233017.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/571/john-donne-933_elephant_nature-s-great-masterpiece-an-elephant-t_233017.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nature's great masterpiece, an elephant; the only harmless great thing.” — John Donne", "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": "John Donne", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Nature's great masterpiece, an elephant; the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/nature-s-great-masterpiece-an-elephant-the-only-harmless-great-thing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/nature-s-great-masterpiece-an-elephant-the-only-harmless-great-thing/#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 } } ] } ```