--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nature. As the word is now commonly used…" description: "\"Nature. As the word is now commonly used it excludes nature's most interesting productions-the works of man. Nature is usually taken to mean mountains,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87e/samuel-butler-823_animal_nature-as-the-word-is-now-commonly-used_2118276.jpg" --- # Nature. As the word is now commonly used it excludes… ![“Nature. As the word is now commonly used it excludes nature's most interesting productions-the works of man. Nature is usually taken to mean mountains, rivers, clouds and undomesticated animals and plants. I am not indifferent to this half of nature, but it interests me much less than the other…” quote by Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87e/samuel-butler-823_animal_nature-as-the-word-is-now-commonly-used_2118276.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87e/samuel-butler-823_animal_nature-as-the-word-is-now-commonly-used_2118276.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87e/samuel-butler-823_animal_nature-as-the-word-is-now-commonly-used_2118276.jpg) > “Nature. As the word is now commonly used it excludes nature's most interesting productions-the works of man. Nature is usually taken to mean mountains, rivers, clouds and undomesticated animals and plants. I am not indifferent to this half of nature, but it interests me much less than the other half.” [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human creations are often excluded from the concept of nature, yet they are a vital part of its totality. **In simple terms:** Man-made works are part of nature. Key Takeaway Recognize human impact as natural. Themes nature humanity environment Mood reflective critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - urban planning - technology development - environmental policy - cultural heritage Key Concepts anthropocentrism ecology Questions to Reflect On - How do we integrate technology into natural stewardship? - What responsibilities arise from seeing humanity as part of nature? A Different Perspective Human creations can be destructive if unchecked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plant/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [All knowledge is interesting to a wise man, and the knowledge of nature is interesting to all men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/all-knowledge-is-interesting-to-a-wise-man-and-the-knowledge-of/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“Human nature is always interesting... And it's curious to see how certain types always tend to act in exactly the same way." - Miss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/human-nature-is-always-interesting-and-it-s-curious-to-see-how/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [Every phenomenon of nature was a word, - the sign, symbol and pledge of a new, mysterious, inexpressible but all the more intimate union,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-georg-hamann/every-phenomenon-of-nature-was-a-word-the-sign-symbol-and-pledge-of-a/) [Johann Georg Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-georg-hamann/) > [...Nature-the word that stands for the baffling mysteries of the Universe. Steadily, unflinchingly, we strive to pierce the inmost heart of Nature, from what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-crookes/nature-the-word-that-stands-for-the-baffling-mysteries-of-the/) [William Crookes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-crookes/) > [If I'm not on tour or in the studio, I'm in nature somewhere, usually some kind of ocean. Playing music has afforded me that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-vedder/if-i-m-not-on-tour-or-in-the-studio-i-m-in-nature-somewhere-usually/) [Eddie Vedder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-vedder/) > [Nature is a word, an allegory, a mold, an embossing, if you will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/nature-is-a-word-an-allegory-a-mold-an-embossing-if-you-will/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Nature is usually wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-whistler/nature-is-usually-wrong/) [James Whistler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-whistler/) > [Nature is very rarely right, to such an extent even, that it might almost be said that nature is usually wrong...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-whistler/nature-is-very-rarely-right-to-such-an-extent-even-that-it-might/) [James Whistler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-whistler/) > [The youth of an art is, like the youth of anything else, its most interesting period.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-youth-of-an-art-is-like-the-youth-of-anything-else-its-most-2/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [My aim is to institute perpetual adoration," spoke St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, Franciscan priest and founder of the Knights of the Immaculata. For he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maximilian-kolbe/my-aim-is-to-institute-perpetual-adoration-spoke-st-maximilian-maria/) [Maximilian Kolbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maximilian-kolbe/) > [Half the world cries Half the world laughs Half the world tries To be the other half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-peart/half-the-world-cries-half-the-world-laughs-half-the-world-tries-to-be/) [Neil Peart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-peart/) > [I don't see much future for the Americans ... it's a decayed country. And they have their racial problem, and the problem of social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/i-don-t-see-much-future-for-the-americans-it-s-a-decayed-country-and/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [I want people to just be paying attention even if they're not necessarily laughing at something, or if it takes them a while to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-want-people-to-just-be-paying-attention-even-if-they-re-not/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [But if you will recall the history of our civil troubles, you will see half the nation bathe itself, out of piety, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/but-if-you-will-recall-the-history-of-our-civil-troubles-you-will-see/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [It is a sad fact that 50 percent of marriages in this country end in divorce. But hey, the other half end in death.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-jeni/it-is-a-sad-fact-that-50-percent-of-marriages-in-this-country-end-in/) [Richard Jeni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-jeni/) ## More by Samuel Butler > [Is life worth living? This is a question for an embryo not for a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/is-life-worth-living-this-is-a-question-for-an-embryo-not-for-a-man/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [I am the enfant terrible of literature and science. If I cannot, and I know I cannot, get the literary and scientific bigwigs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/i-am-the-enfant-terrible-of-literature-and-science-if-i-cannot-and-i/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [If you follow reason far enough it always leads to conclusions that are contrary to reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-you-follow-reason-far-enough-it-always-leads-to-conclusions-that/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/all-animals-except-man-know-that-the-principal-business-of-life-is-to/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [The advantage of doing one's praising for oneself is that one can lay it on so thick and exactly in the right places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-advantage-of-doing-one-s-praising-for-oneself-is-that-one-can-lay/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Spare the rod and spoil the child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/spare-the-rod-and-spoil-the-child/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Opinions have vested interests just as men have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/opinions-have-vested-interests-just-as-men-have/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“we must judge men not so much by what they, as by what they make us feel that they have it in them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/we-must-judge-men-not-so-much-by-what-they-as-by-what-they-make-us/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [If I die prematurely I shall be saved from being bored to death at my own success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-i-die-prematurely-i-shall-be-saved-from-being-bored-to-death-at-my/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Vaccination is the medical sacrament corresponding to baptism. Whether it is or is not more efficacious I do not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/vaccination-is-the-medical-sacrament-corresponding-to-baptism-whether/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“Having, then, once introduced an element of inconsistency into his system, he was far too consistent not to be inconsistent consistently, and he lapsed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/having-then-once-introduced-an-element-of-inconsistency-into-his/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Brigands demand your money or your life; women require both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/brigands-demand-your-money-or-your-life-women-require-both/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [A man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/a-man-who-lets-himself-be-bored-is-even-more-contemptible-than-the/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [It is not sufficiently considered in the hour of exultation, that all human excellence is comparative; that no man performs much but in proportion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/it-is-not-sufficiently-considered-in-the-hour-of-exultation-that-all/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-oldest-books-are-still-only-just-out-to-those-who-have-not-read/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) [Explore all 355 Samuel Butler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nature. As the word is now commonly used it excludes nature's most interesting productions-the works of man. Nature is usually taken to mean mountains, rivers, clouds and undomesticated animals and plants. 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