--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: God is the experience of looking at a…" description: "\"God is the experience of looking at a tree and saying, 'Ah!\" — Joseph Campbell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2a/joseph-campbell-300_environment_god-is-the-experience-of-looking-at-a-tr_2631826.png" --- # God is the experience of looking at a tree and saying, 'Ah! ![“God is the experience of looking at a tree and saying, 'Ah!” quote by Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2a/joseph-campbell-300_environment_god-is-the-experience-of-looking-at-a-tr_2631826.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2a/joseph-campbell-300_environment_god-is-the-experience-of-looking-at-a-tr_2631826.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2a/joseph-campbell-300_environment_god-is-the-experience-of-looking-at-a-tr_2631826.png) > “God is the experience of looking at a tree and saying, 'Ah!” [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that divinity is found in simple, direct experiences of nature, like observing a tree and feeling awe. **In simple terms:** Divine feeling comes from noticing nature. Key Takeaway Seek awe in everyday moments. Themes spirituality nature mindfulness Mood reverent reflective Type aphilosophical inspirational When to use this quote - hiking - meditation - gardening - artistic inspiration Key Concepts transcendence presence Questions to Reflect On - How does nature inspire your sense of the sacred? - Can everyday moments replace formal worship? A Different Perspective May overlook deeper theological contexts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Experience Looking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-looking-1173200/) [Garden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/garden/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [God Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-experience-252915/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Looking Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looking-tree-1527800/) [Positive thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-thinking/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [Tree Saying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree-saying-308606/) [Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trees/) ## Related quotes > [2,000 years ago one man got nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be if everyone was nice to each other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/2-000-years-ago-one-man-got-nailed-to-a-tree-for-saying-how-great-it/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“He, too, stood looking at her for a moment--and it seemed to her that it was not a look of greeting after an absence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/he-too-stood-looking-at-her-for-a-moment-and-it-seemed-to-her-that-it/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“You’ve got to admit it’s a bit of a pantomime, though,” said Crawly. “I mean, pointing out the Tree and saying ‘Don’t Touch’ in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-ve-got-to-admit-it-s-a-bit-of-a-pantomime-though-said-crawly-i/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“In some ways, my mother was right; a tree does look the same from the top as it does from the bottom: same branches,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elissa-janine-hoole/in-some-ways-my-mother-was-right-a-tree-does-look-the-same-from-the/) [Elissa Janine Hoole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elissa-janine-hoole/) > [I wonder how it is that so cheerful-looking a tree as the willow should ever have become associated with ideas of sadness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gilbert-hamerton/i-wonder-how-it-is-that-so-cheerful-looking-a-tree-as-the-willow/) [Philip Gilbert Hamerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gilbert-hamerton/) > [I often lay on that bench looking up into the tree, past the trunk and up into the branches. It was particularly fine at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/i-often-lay-on-that-bench-looking-up-into-the-tree-past-the-trunk-and/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [“I was looking at this tree but it was a dragon and then a tree,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/i-was-looking-at-this-tree-but-it-was-a-dragon-and-then-a-tree/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [Experience is what you get while looking for something else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/experience-is-what-you-get-while-looking-for-something-else/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I’ve had that kind of experience myself: I’m looking at a map and I see someplace that makes me think, ‘I absolutely have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-ve-had-that-kind-of-experience-myself-i-m-looking-at-a-map-and-i/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [For me, looking at small images somehow recreates the experience of looking through a viewfinder… At this size they're edible. You don't just scan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-fiskin/for-me-looking-at-small-images-somehow-recreates-the-experience-of/) [Judy Fiskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-fiskin/) > [As a young woman, my own experience of looking at myself in the mirror is something that's plagued me in lots of ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esme-creed-miles/as-a-young-woman-my-own-experience-of-looking-at-myself-in-the-mirror/) [Esme Creed-Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esme-creed-miles/) > [Experience is looking in the past to find an answer, genius is looking in the future to raise a question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasneem-hameed/experience-is-looking-in-the-past-to-find-an-answer-genius-is-looking/) [Tasneem Hameed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasneem-hameed/) > [When all the words have been written, and all the phrases have been spoken, the great mystery of life will still remain. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-nerburn/when-all-the-words-have-been-written-and-all-the-phrases-have-been/) [Kent Nerburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-nerburn/) > [Photography hankers after the condition of the neutral observer. But there can be no such things as a neutral observer. For something to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/photography-hankers-after-the-condition-of-the-neutral-observer-but/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [Every work experience is a positive work experience, and if you're looking at it any other way I can't help you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dustin-milligan/every-work-experience-is-a-positive-work-experience-and-if-you-re/) [Dustin Milligan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dustin-milligan/) ## More by Joseph Campbell > [If a person does not listen to the demands of their own spiritual and heart life and insists on a certain program, you're going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-a-person-does-not-listen-to-the-demands-of-their-own-spiritual-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The last act in the biography of the hero is that of the death or departure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-last-act-in-the-biography-of-the-hero-is-that-of-the-death-or/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-privilege-of-a-lifetime-is-being-who-you-are/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The eternal principle, which never was born, never will die: it is in all things: it is in you now. 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And the life that you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-follow-your-bliss-a-kind-of-track-opens-up-that-s-always/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The best we can do is lean towards the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-best-we-can-do-is-lean-towards-the-light/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [I think of mythology as the homeland of the muses, the inspirers of art, the inspirers of poetry. To see life as a poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/i-think-of-mythology-as-the-homeland-of-the-muses-the-inspirers-of/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When you are falling --- Dive!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-are-falling-dive/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [We're all seeking...the rapture of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/we-re-all-seeking-the-rapture-of-being-alive/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Both the artist and the lover know that perfection is not loveable. It is the clumsiness of a fault that makes a person lovable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/both-the-artist-and-the-lover-know-that-perfection-is-not-loveable-it/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) [Explore all 711 Joseph Campbell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## More Environment quotes > [I feel like the future is unwritten. So many of the things that we write now haven't been about educating people on the environment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/i-feel-like-the-future-is-unwritten-so-many-of-the-things-that-we/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [This welfare for wealthy companies wastes taxpayer dollars, harms the environment, and makes a mockery of the recent reductions in federal social spending programs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/this-welfare-for-wealthy-companies-wastes-taxpayer-dollars-harms-the/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [Plainly, the environment must be a living one, directed by a higher intelligence, arranged by an adult who is prepared for his mission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/plainly-the-environment-must-be-a-living-one-directed-by-a-higher/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [In the current climate, things that are true, brave human stories become political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/in-the-current-climate-things-that-are-true-brave-human-stories/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [They paved paradise and put up a parkin lot With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot Don't it always seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/they-paved-paradise-and-put-up-a-parkin-lot-with-a-pink-hotel-a/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [Life as we know it is fundamentally unsatisfying. I think most folks feel this to be true. They know that a life of aimless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-yates/life-as-we-know-it-is-fundamentally-unsatisfying-i-think-most-folks/) [Michael Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-yates/) > [To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/to-assist-a-child-we-must-provide-him-with-an-environment-which-will/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Daily life is both the subject and environment of the work I am making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-henrot/daily-life-is-both-the-subject-and-environment-of-the-work-i-am-making/) [Camille Henrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-henrot/) > [If, as I anticipate, a wide array of personal, portable information/communication devices becomes increasingly important and widespread for information-intensive users, it will be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/if-as-i-anticipate-a-wide-array-of-personal-portable-information/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [Create an environment for people to fail, to learn, and to grow. 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