--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When some portion of the biosphere is…" description: "\"When some portion of the biosphere is rather unpopular with the human race-a crocodile, a dandelion, a stony valley, a snowstorm, an odd-shaped flint-t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a8/mary-midgley-29850_biosphere_when-some-portion-of-the-biosphere-is-ra_1461503.jpg" --- # When some portion of the biosphere is rather unpopular… ![“When some portion of the biosphere is rather unpopular with the human race-a crocodile, a dandelion, a stony valley, a snowstorm, an odd-shaped flint-there are three sorts of human being who are particularly likely still to see point in it and befriend it. They are poets, scientists and children…” quote by Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a8/mary-midgley-29850_biosphere_when-some-portion-of-the-biosphere-is-ra_1461503.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a8/mary-midgley-29850_biosphere_when-some-portion-of-the-biosphere-is-ra_1461503.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a8/mary-midgley-29850_biosphere_when-some-portion-of-the-biosphere-is-ra_1461503.jpg) > “When some portion of the biosphere is rather unpopular with the human race-a crocodile, a dandelion, a stony valley, a snowstorm, an odd-shaped flint-there are three sorts of human being who are particularly likely still to see point in it and befriend it. They are poets, scientists and children. Inside each of us, I suggest, representatives of all these groups can be found.” [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poets, scientists, and children uniquely appreciate and befriend the often-unpleasant parts of nature, revealing diverse ways to find meaning. **In simple terms:** Poets, scientists, children see value in harsh nature. Key Takeaway Cultivate curiosity about all aspects of the world. Themes nature appreciation diversity perspective Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - environmental activism - parenting - creative writing Key Concepts ecology philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can we teach others to see value in the unwanted? - What role does curiosity play in bridging discomfort? A Different Perspective Not everyone can easily connect with uncomfortable natural elements. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biosphere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biosphere/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Crocodiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crocodiles/) [Dandelions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dandelions/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Human race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-race/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Representatives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/representatives/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Snowstorms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snowstorms/) ## Related quotes > [There's always another storm. It's the way the world works. Snowstorms, rainstorms, windstorms, sandstorms, and firestorms. Some are fierce and others are small. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-v-snyder/there-s-always-another-storm-it-s-the-way-the-world-works-snowstorms/) [Maria V. Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-v-snyder/) > [In my arms is a woman who has given me a Skywatcher's Cloud Chart, a woman who knows all my secrets, a woman who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-quick/in-my-arms-is-a-woman-who-has-given-me-a-skywatcher-s-cloud-chart-a/) [Matthew Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-quick/) > [In a way, I'd rather ride down the street on a camel than give what is sometimes called an in-depth interview. I'd rather ride…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-beatty/in-a-way-i-d-rather-ride-down-the-street-on-a-camel-than-give-what-is/) [Warren Beatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-beatty/) > [At any particular moment in a man's life, he can say that everything he has done and not done, that has been done and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/at-any-particular-moment-in-a-man-s-life-he-can-say-that-everything/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [Floating in the void free of gravity I made my way along the side of the ship. I listened to my own breaths. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-eaves/floating-in-the-void-free-of-gravity-i-made-my-way-along-the-side-of/) [Elisabeth Eaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-eaves/) > [When I was a child... I was watching a snowstorm, and hopefully asked, 'Momma, do we believe in winter?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/when-i-was-a-child-i-was-watching-a-snowstorm-and-hopefully-asked/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [Acting is like a snowstorm or perhaps a large empty vacuum. I'm not deluded by the fact that I'm getting all these offers for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-lee/acting-is-like-a-snowstorm-or-perhaps-a-large-empty-vacuum-i-m-not/) [Christopher Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-lee/) > [For many years I was a self-appointed inspector of snowstorms and rainstorms and did my duty faithfully, though I never received payment for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/for-many-years-i-was-a-self-appointed-inspector-of-snowstorms-and/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I think we are bound to, and by, nature. 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He replied frankly: "Because everything does."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-tracy/a-student-undergoing-a-word-association-test-was-asked-why-a/) Honor Tracy > [After a snowstorm is the best time to be in the woods, because all the empty beer and soda cans and candy wrappers disappear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-rifka-brunt/after-a-snowstorm-is-the-best-time-to-be-in-the-woods-because-all-the/) [Carol Rifka Brunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-rifka-brunt/) > [My teenage children watched Senator Clinton on the Today Show, mouths agape. They attended our local caucus with me and saw hundreds of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shoshana-zuboff/my-teenage-children-watched-senator-clinton-on-the-today-show-mouths/) [Shoshana Zuboff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shoshana-zuboff/) > [It's easy to love the snow because at the end of every snowstorm it's as if the world has started over. There is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-mcmahon/it-s-easy-to-love-the-snow-because-at-the-end-of-every-snowstorm-it-s/) [Andrew McMahon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-mcmahon/) > [I always enjoyed the hearty society of a snowstorm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/i-always-enjoyed-the-hearty-society-of-a-snowstorm/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) ## More by Mary Midgley > [“Unless all that we take to be knowledge is an illusion, we must hold that in thinking we are not reading rationality into an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/unless-all-that-we-take-to-be-knowledge-is-an-illusion-we-must-hold/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [“By contrast, if one conceives the idea of human rights as centring on the notion that each individual is completely autonomous and should have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/by-contrast-if-one-conceives-the-idea-of-human-rights-as-centring-on/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [The world in which the kestrel moves, the world that it sees, is, and always will be, entirely beyond us. That there are such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/the-world-in-which-the-kestrel-moves-the-world-that-it-sees-is-and/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [Few scientists would treat their cars as badly as they treat their conceptual schemes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/few-scientists-would-treat-their-cars-as-badly-as-they-treat-their/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [“. . . Neither ecological nor social engineering will lead us to a conflict-free, simple path . . . Utilitarians and others who simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/neither-ecological-nor-social-engineering-will-lead-us-to-a-conflict/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [It is extremely urgent to try and adapt our thoughts realistically to a world which has no fixed general direction either upward or downward,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/it-is-extremely-urgent-to-try-and-adapt-our-thoughts-realistically-to/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [It is this claim to a monopoly of meaning, rather than any special scientific doctrine, that makes science and religion look like competitors today.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/it-is-this-claim-to-a-monopoly-of-meaning-rather-than-any-special/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [Morally as well as physically, there is only one world, and we all have to live in it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/morally-as-well-as-physically-there-is-only-one-world-and-we-all-have/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [What great philosophers do for us is not to hand out such an all-purpose system. It is to light up and clarify some special…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/what-great-philosophers-do-for-us-is-not-to-hand-out-such-an-all/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [Evolution is the creation-myth of our age. By telling us our origin it shapes our views of what we are. It influences not just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/evolution-is-the-creation-myth-of-our-age-by-telling-us-our-origin-it/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [The symbolism of meat-eating is never neutral. To himself, the meat-eater seems to be eating life. To the vegetarian, he seems to be eating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/the-symbolism-of-meat-eating-is-never-neutral-to-himself-the-meat/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [None of us can study anything properly unless we do it with our whole being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/none-of-us-can-study-anything-properly-unless-we-do-it-with-our-whole/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [The trouble with human beings is not really that they love themselves too much; they ought to love themselves more. The trouble is simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/the-trouble-with-human-beings-is-not-really-that-they-love-themselves/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [Hubris calls for nemesis, and in one form or another it's going to get it, not as a punishment from outside but as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/hubris-calls-for-nemesis-and-in-one-form-or-another-it-s-going-to-get/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) > [“As Darwin pointed out in The Origin of Species (opening pages of chapter three), the 'struggle for existence' can often be described just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-midgley/as-darwin-pointed-out-in-the-origin-of-species-opening-pages-of/) [Mary Midgley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) [Explore all 18 Mary Midgley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-midgley/) ## More Biosphere quotes > [It's always been a dream of mine, of exploring the living world, of classifying all the species and finding out what makes up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/it-s-always-been-a-dream-of-mine-of-exploring-the-living-world-of/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [The living environment is the biosphere, the thin layer around the world of living organisms. We're part of that. Our existence is dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/the-living-environment-is-the-biosphere-the-thin-layer-around-the/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [Using less of the Earth’s resources more efficiently and productively in a circular economy and making the transition from carbon-based fuels to renewable energies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-rifkin/using-less-of-the-earth-s-resources-more-efficiently-and-productively/) [Jeremy Rifkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-rifkin/) > [I firmly believe that contemporary spiritual use of entheogenic drugs is one of humankind's brightest hopes for overcoming the ecological crisis from which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-ott/i-firmly-believe-that-contemporary-spiritual-use-of-entheogenic-drugs/) Jonathan Ott > [The schedules are crammed with shows urging us to travel further, drive faster, build bigger, buy more, yet none of them are deemed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/the-schedules-are-crammed-with-shows-urging-us-to-travel-further/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) > [Certainly for me, as an astrobiologist, science fiction has played an important role. One of the quandaries of our field is that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/certainly-for-me-as-an-astrobiologist-science-fiction-has-played-an/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [“Nothing is more important to human beings than an ecologically functioning, life sustaining biosphere on the earth. It is the only habitable place we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-guth/nothing-is-more-important-to-human-beings-than-an-ecologically/) Joseph Guth > [ “\[Religious belief is\] outmoded and ridiculous. \[Belief in gods was a\] worn out but once useful crutch in mankind's journey towards truth. We consider… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-w-atkins/religious-belief-is-outmoded-and-ridiculous-belief-in-gods-was-a-worn/) [P.W. Atkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-w-atkins/) > [Plants with leaves no more efficient than today's solar cells could out-compete real plants, crowding the biosphere with an inedible foliage. Tough omnivorous bacteria…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-eric-drexler/plants-with-leaves-no-more-efficient-than-today-s-solar-cells-could/) [K. Eric Drexler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-eric-drexler/) > [The ability of human beings to be creative depends fundamentally on the health and well-being of our biosphere, the few kilometres of air, water,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-patterson/the-ability-of-human-beings-to-be-creative-depends-fundamentally-on/) [Freeman Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-patterson/) > [Protecting the biosphere should be our highest priority or else we sicken and die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/protecting-the-biosphere-should-be-our-highest-priority-or-else-we/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [This is suicidal... our home is the biosphere. That's a very thin layer of air, water and land where all life exists. It's fixed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/this-is-suicidal-our-home-is-the-biosphere-that-s-a-very-thin-layer/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [...no matter how complex or affluent, human societies are nothing but subsystems of the biosphere, the Earth's thin veneer of life, which is ultimately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-smil/no-matter-how-complex-or-affluent-human-societies-are-nothing-but/) [Vaclav Smil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-smil/) > [Keep an eye on the weather, which is changing faster than predicted, and on the new diseases escaping or being made, even as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/keep-an-eye-on-the-weather-which-is-changing-faster-than-predicted/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [There are some things in the world we can't change...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/there-are-some-things-in-the-world-we-can-t-change/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) [Browse all 85 Biosphere quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biosphere/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When some portion of the biosphere is rather unpopular with the human race-a crocodile, a dandelion, a stony valley, a snowstorm, an odd-shaped flint-there are three sorts of human being who are particularly likely still to see point in it and befriend it. 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