--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When we try to pick out anything by…" description: "\"“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. -John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer (1838-..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/john-muir-678_connections_when-we-try-to-pick-out-anything-by-itse_2970279.png" --- # When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it… ![“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. -John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer (1838-1914)” quote by John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/john-muir-678_connections_when-we-try-to-pick-out-anything-by-itse_2970279.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/john-muir-678_connections_when-we-try-to-pick-out-anything-by-itse_2970279.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/john-muir-678_connections_when-we-try-to-pick-out-anything-by-itse_2970279.png) > ““When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. -John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer (1838-1914)”” [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Everything is interconnected; isolating one element reveals its ties to the whole. **In simple terms:** All things are linked together. Key Takeaway Consider the broader impact of actions. Themes interconnectedness holism environment Mood thoughtful inspired Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - policy making - education - product design Key Concepts systems theory ecology Questions to Reflect On - How does this view change your decisions? - What hidden connections might you be overlooking? A Different Perspective Complex systems can’t be fully understood in isolation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Connections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/connections/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Hitched](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hitched-420513/) [Hitched Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hitched-universe-799974/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Interdependency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interdependency-93386/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/john-muir/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Marvel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marvel/) [Muir Naturalist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/muir-naturalist-4569468/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Pick Hitched](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pick-hitched-799975/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/when-we-try-to-pick-out-anything-by-itself-we-find-it-hitched-to-2/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it is hitched to everything else in the universe.”70”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-webb/when-we-try-to-pick-out-anything-by-itself-we-find-it-is-hitched-to/) [Amy Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-webb/) > [When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. 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His… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/in-that-year-1865-john-muir-offered-to-buy-from-his-brother-a/) [Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/) > [I began working with the John Muir Institute and then started helping found Friends of the Earth organizations here and there in other countries.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-r-brower/i-began-working-with-the-john-muir-institute-and-then-started-helping/) [David R. Brower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-r-brower/) > [I would say Gary Snyder, who is from my part of the world as a poet and environmental thinker, will be read just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/i-would-say-gary-snyder-who-is-from-my-part-of-the-world-as-a-poet/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [“Now, wilderness can be seen as a useful fiction, a fiction constructed by John Muir and his heirs and deployed to keep places from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/now-wilderness-can-be-seen-as-a-useful-fiction-a-fiction-constructed/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) ## More by John Muir > [I will follow my instincts, be myself for good or ill, and see what will be the upshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/i-will-follow-my-instincts-be-myself-for-good-or-ill-and-see-what/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [During my first years in the Sierra, I was ever calling on everybody within reach to admire them, but I found no one half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/during-my-first-years-in-the-sierra-i-was-ever-calling-on-everybody/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [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/) > [...full of God's thoughts, a place of peace and safety amid the most exalted grandeur and enthusiastic action, a new song, a place of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/full-of-god-s-thoughts-a-place-of-peace-and-safety-amid-the-most/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [“Here are the roots of all the life of the valleys, and here more simply than elsewhere is the eternal flux of nature manifested.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/here-are-the-roots-of-all-the-life-of-the-valleys-and-here-more/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Spring work is going on with joyful enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/spring-work-is-going-on-with-joyful-enthusiasm/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Our lives are rounded with a sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/our-lives-are-rounded-with-a-sleep/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/another-glorious-day-the-air-as-delicious-to-the-lungs-as-nectar-to/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Long, blue, spiky-edged shadows crept out across the snow-fields, while a rosy glow, at first scarce discernible, gradually deepened and suffused every mountain-top, flushing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/long-blue-spiky-edged-shadows-crept-out-across-the-snow-fields-while/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [“This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/this-grand-show-is-eternal-it-is-always-sunrise-somewhere-the-dew-is/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/when-one-tugs-at-a-single-thing-in-nature-he-finds-it-attached-to-the/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [In studying the fate of our forest king, we have thus far considered the action of purely natural causes only; but, unfortunately, man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/in-studying-the-fate-of-our-forest-king-we-have-thus-far-considered/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [The forests of America, however slighted by man, must have been a great delight to God; for they were the best he ever planted.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/the-forests-of-america-however-slighted-by-man-must-have-been-a-great/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Man seems to be the only animal whose food soils him, making necessary much washing and shield-like bibs and napkins. 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I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/as-long-as-i-live-i-ll-hear-waterfalls-and-birds-and-winds-sing-i-ll/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) [Explore all 409 John Muir quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) ## More Connections quotes > [I guess at it's very core love is connection that just makes so much sense you wonder how you used to live before you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-stone/i-guess-at-it-s-very-core-love-is-connection-that-just-makes-so-much/) [Benjamin Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-stone/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. 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