--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I study nature so as not to do foolish…" description: "\"I study nature so as not to do foolish things.\" — Mary Ruefle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/mary-ruefle-12875_education_i-study-nature-so-as-not-to-do-foolish-t_2397001.png" --- # I study nature so as not to do foolish things. ![“I study nature so as not to do foolish things.” quote by Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/mary-ruefle-12875_education_i-study-nature-so-as-not-to-do-foolish-t_2397001.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/mary-ruefle-12875_education_i-study-nature-so-as-not-to-do-foolish-t_2397001.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/mary-ruefle-12875_education_i-study-nature-so-as-not-to-do-foolish-t_2397001.png) > “I study nature so as not to do foolish things.” [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Studying nature helps avoid repeating its mistakes, guiding wiser actions. **In simple terms:** Nature teaches us to avoid folly. Key Takeaway Learn from nature to act wisely. Themes environmental awareness humility learning from nature Mood thoughtful inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - gardening - scientific research - policy making - personal growth - education Key Concepts ecology philosophy wisdom Questions to Reflect On - What natural patterns can inform your decisions? - How do you apply ecological insights daily? A Different Perspective Nature's lessons may be misinterpreted. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [To be enthusiastic about doing much with human nature is a foolish business indeed; and, throwing himself into his work as he was doing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-anthony-froude/to-be-enthusiastic-about-doing-much-with-human-nature-is-a-foolish/) [James Anthony Froude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-anthony-froude/) > [One can never study nature too much and too hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/one-can-never-study-nature-too-much-and-too-hard/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/surprises-are-foolish-things-the-pleasure-is-not-enhanced-and-the/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [All that is great cannot be possessed - and that is one of the most foolish things man goes on doing. We want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-that-is-great-cannot-be-possessed-and-that-is-one-of-the-most-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is even more damaging for a minister to say foolish things than to do them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-even-more-damaging-for-a-minister-to-say-foolish-things-than-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/god-hath-chosen-the-foolish-things-of-the-world-to-confound-the-wise/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [You can believe a whole lot of foolish things, but God doesn't want you to do that. He wants your faith to rest upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-vernon-mcgee/you-can-believe-a-whole-lot-of-foolish-things-but-god-doesn-t-want/) [J. Vernon McGee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-vernon-mcgee/) > [Me and the love of my life are laying in bed laughing at the foolish things our EXs did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/me-and-the-love-of-my-life-are-laying-in-bed-laughing-at-the-foolish/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Verily, men do foolish things thoughtlessly, knowing not why; but no woman doeth aught without a reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gelett-burgess/verily-men-do-foolish-things-thoughtlessly-knowing-not-why-but-no/) [Gelett Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gelett-burgess/) > [You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-do-foolish-things-but-do-them-with-enthusiasm/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think it's my job to risk looking foolish. One of the things I've learned from the actors I've worked with is you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-hawke/i-think-it-s-my-job-to-risk-looking-foolish-one-of-the-things-i-ve/) [Ethan Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-hawke/) > [Love makes people do some foolish things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/namae/love-makes-people-do-some-foolish-things/) Namae > [All that is great cannot be possessed - and that is one of the most foolish things man goes on doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-that-is-great-cannot-be-possessed-and-that-is-one-of-the-most/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“How many people, on that voyage, load up the boat till it is ever in danger of swamping with a store of foolish things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/how-many-people-on-that-voyage-load-up-the-boat-till-it-is-ever-in/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [Hope is the biggest of our foolish things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-vigny/hope-is-the-biggest-of-our-foolish-things/) [Alfred de Vigny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-vigny/) ## More by Mary Ruefle > [Now I will give you a piece of advice. 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And the only thing poets seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/there-is-a-world-which-poets-cannot-seem-to-enter-it-is-the-world/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [the wasting of time is the most personal, most private, most intimate form of conversation with oneself, as well as with another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/the-wasting-of-time-is-the-most-personal-most-private-most-intimate/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) [Explore all 52 Mary Ruefle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) ## More Education quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. 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(Hilda Doolittle > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. Our soul has lived so many lives that we know everything. Teachers and education can only remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/according-to-plato-we-don-t-learn-anything-our-soul-has-lived-so-many/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“I only began to enjoy studying after I got through the educational system and became a so-called member of society. If something interested me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-only-began-to-enjoy-studying-after-i-got-through-the-educational/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [English teachers tend to put more thought in the books than the author did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/english-teachers-tend-to-put-more-thought-in-the-books-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/when-will-society-like-a-mother-take-care-of-all-her-children/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) [Browse all 37,666 Education quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I study nature so as not to do foolish things.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Ruefle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/i-study-nature-so-as-not-to-do-foolish-things/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/i-study-nature-so-as-not-to-do-foolish-things/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/mary-ruefle-12875_education_i-study-nature-so-as-not-to-do-foolish-t_2397001.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/mary-ruefle-12875_education_i-study-nature-so-as-not-to-do-foolish-t_2397001.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/mary-ruefle-12875_education_i-study-nature-so-as-not-to-do-foolish-t_2397001.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I study nature so as not to do foolish things.” — Mary Ruefle", "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": "Mary Ruefle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I study nature so as not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/i-study-nature-so-as-not-to-do-foolish-things/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/i-study-nature-so-as-not-to-do-foolish-things/#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 } } ] } ```