--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Amazingly, we take for granted that…" description: "\"Amazingly, we take for granted that instinct for survival, fear of death, must separate us from the happiness of pure and uninterpreted experience, in ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/peter-matthiessen-5795_air_amazingly-we-take-for-granted-that-insti_3059229.png" --- # Amazingly, we take for granted that instinct for survival… ![“Amazingly, we take for granted that instinct for survival, fear of death, must separate us from the happiness of pure and uninterpreted experience, in which body, mind, and nature are the same. This retreat from wonder, the backing away like lobsters into safe crannies, the desperate instinct that…” quote by Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/peter-matthiessen-5795_air_amazingly-we-take-for-granted-that-insti_3059229.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/peter-matthiessen-5795_air_amazingly-we-take-for-granted-that-insti_3059229.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db8/peter-matthiessen-5795_air_amazingly-we-take-for-granted-that-insti_3059229.png) > “Amazingly, we take for granted that instinct for survival, fear of death, must separate us from the happiness of pure and uninterpreted experience, in which body, mind, and nature are the same. This retreat from wonder, the backing away like lobsters into safe crannies, the desperate instinct that our life passes unlived, is reflected in proliferation without joy, corrosive money rot, the gross befouling of the earth and air and water from which we came.” [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We often let survival instincts and fear dominate, separating us from pure, unfiltered experience, leading to environmental decay and joyless proliferation. **In simple terms:** Fear and survival block true wonder and unity with nature. Key Takeaway Cultivate presence and wonder to counter fear. Themes environment mindfulness environmentalism existentialism spirituality Mood reflective concerned hopeful Type philosophical inspirational environmental When to use this quote - urban life - corporate work - consumer culture - personal meditation - ecological activism Key Concepts Ecology Phenomenology Existential Angst Questions to Reflect On - How can you experience wonder amid daily responsibilities? - What practices reconnect body, mind, and nature? A Different Perspective Fear can also protect necessary survival; balance is needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Air](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/air/) [Backing away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backing-away/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Desperate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desperate/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Fear of death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear-of-death/) [Granted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/granted/) [Granted Instinct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/granted-instinct-5124022/) [Gross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gross/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Instinct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinct/) [Instinct Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinct-life-1574740/) [Instinct Survival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinct-survival-2070760/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Lobster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lobster/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Proliferation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proliferation/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Retreat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/retreat/) [Safe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safe/) [Survival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survival/) [Survival Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survival-fear-5124023/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) ## Related quotes > [If you let your fear of consequence prevent you from following your deepest instinct, your life will be safe, expedient and thin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-butler-hathaway/if-you-let-your-fear-of-consequence-prevent-you-from-following-your/) [Katharine Butler Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-butler-hathaway/) > [“If you let the fear of consequence prevent you from following your deepest instinct, then your life will be safe, expedient and thin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-butler-hathaway/if-you-let-the-fear-of-consequence-prevent-you-from-following-your/) [Katharine Butler Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-butler-hathaway/) > [Man is the only one in whom the instinct of life falters long enough to enable it to ask the question "Why?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/man-is-the-only-one-in-whom-the-instinct-of-life-falters-long-enough/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [Experience is a question of instinct about life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/experience-is-a-question-of-instinct-about-life/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“I think that in all descriptions of the good life here on earth we must assume a certain basis of animal vitality and animal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/i-think-that-in-all-descriptions-of-the-good-life-here-on-earth-we/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“It is only by following your deepest instinct that you can lead a rich life, and if you let your fear of consequence prevent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-butler-hathaway/it-is-only-by-following-your-deepest-instinct-that-you-can-lead-a-2/) [Katharine Butler Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-butler-hathaway/) > [In the greater part of humankind there resides an instinct for survival. It is this which can clutch at straws and effect a rescue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/in-the-greater-part-of-humankind-there-resides-an-instinct-for/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [I have one instinct stronger than any other thing in life, and that is the instinct for survival.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-lagerfeld/i-have-one-instinct-stronger-than-any-other-thing-in-life-and-that-is/) [Karl Lagerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-lagerfeld/) > [“I think I have an instinct for survival, for self-preservation. Perhaps this is what Veronica called cowardice and I called being peaceable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/i-think-i-have-an-instinct-for-survival-for-self-preservation-perhaps/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“There is an art to living that is far above the base human instinct of survival. I want to live beautifully.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennie-allen/there-is-an-art-to-living-that-is-far-above-the-base-human-instinct/) [Jennie Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennie-allen/) > [“Hardship can humble you, but it cannot break you unless you let it. Your instinct for survival will see you through if you’re attuned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-d-jakes-2/hardship-can-humble-you-but-it-cannot-break-you-unless-you-let-it/) [T.D. Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-d-jakes-2/) > [“In World War II, some Japanese soldiers preferred to take their own lives rather become prisoners of war. In Saipan hundreds of civilians jumped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harald-welzer/in-world-war-ii-some-japanese-soldiers-preferred-to-take-their-own/) [Harald Welzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harald-welzer/) > [“What is life, except an ongoing instinct for survival? 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Above is the glistening galaxy of childhood, now hidden in the Western world by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/for-some-time-i-watch-the-coming-of-the-night-above-is-the-glistening/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [“Nonfiction at its best is like fashioning a cabinet. It can be elegant and very beautiful but it can never be sculpture. Captive to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/nonfiction-at-its-best-is-like-fashioning-a-cabinet-it-can-be-elegant/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [Soon the child’s clear eye is clouded over by ideas and opinions, preconceptions, and abstractions. Simple free being becomes encrusted with the burdensome armor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/soon-the-child-s-clear-eye-is-clouded-over-by-ideas-and-opinions/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [“In the book of Job, the Lord demands, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” “I was there!”-surely that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/in-the-book-of-job-the-lord-demands-where-wast-thou-when-i-laid-the/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [I meditate for the last time on this mountain that is bare, though others all around are white with snow. Like the bare peak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-meditate-for-the-last-time-on-this-mountain-that-is-bare-though/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [I was just very interested in the American frontier and the growth of capitalism - those enormous fortunes that were being made, more often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-was-just-very-interested-in-the-american-frontier-and-the-growth-of/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [“A far cicada rings high and clear over the river’s heavy wash. Morning glory, a lone dandelion, cassia, orchids. So far from the nearest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/a-far-cicada-rings-high-and-clear-over-the-river-s-heavy-wash-morning/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [I ... had what Kierkegaard called 'the sickness of infinitude,' wandering from one path to another with no real recognition that I was embarked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-had-what-kierkegaard-called-the-sickness-of-infinitude-wandering/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) [Explore all 99 Peter Matthiessen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) ## More Air quotes > [I will be a tireless advocate for our District's defense priorities including Sheppard Air Force Base, Pantex, Bell Helicopter, universities conducting important research, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronny-jackson/i-will-be-a-tireless-advocate-for-our-district-s-defense-priorities/) [Ronny Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronny-jackson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If U.S. air, naval, missile, and ground forces were not in and around Korea, and if we were not treaty-bound to fight alongside South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/if-u-s-air-naval-missile-and-ground-forces-were-not-in-and-around/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. 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