--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This body is like the earth. Our bones…" description: "\"“This body is like the earth. Our bones are like mountains. Our belly is like the sea. Our flesh is like the dust and mud. The hair that grows on us is..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/827/shems-friedlander-91735_beautiful-imaginatio_this-body-is-like-the-earth-our-bones-ar_763957.jpg" --- # This body is like the earth. Our bones are like mountains… ![“This body is like the earth. Our bones are like mountains. Our belly is like the sea. Our flesh is like the dust and mud. The hair that grows on us is like plants, and the skin from which this hair grows is like arable land, and the area of our body where hair does not grow is akin to saline soil…” quote by Shems Friedlander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/827/shems-friedlander-91735_beautiful-imaginatio_this-body-is-like-the-earth-our-bones-ar_763957.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/827/shems-friedlander-91735_beautiful-imaginatio_this-body-is-like-the-earth-our-bones-ar_763957.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/827/shems-friedlander-91735_beautiful-imaginatio_this-body-is-like-the-earth-our-bones-ar_763957.jpg) > ““This body is like the earth. Our bones are like mountains. Our belly is like the sea. Our flesh is like the dust and mud. The hair that grows on us is like plants, and the skin from which this hair grows is like arable land, and the area of our body where hair does not grow is akin to saline soil. Our sadness is like darkness and our laughter like sunlight. Sleep is brother to death. Our childhood is like spring, our youth like summer. Our maturity is like the autumn, our old age like the winter of life. All of our movements are like the stars moving in the sky.”” Shems Friedlander ## 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 likens human life stages and emotions to natural cycles, emphasizing interconnectedness and impermanence. **In simple terms:** Life is compared to seasons and nature. Key Takeaway Recognize life's cycles and cherish each stage. Themes nature life cycles impermanence humanity metaphor Mood reflective contemplative Type Nature:1 Old age:1 Like Sunlight:0 Body Like:1 Like Earth:1 Like Mountains:1 Flesh Like:1 When to use this quote - personal reflection - writing - teaching - philosophical discourse Key Concepts seasonal analogy body metaphor emotional symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What natural cycles resonate with your life? - How does this metaphor affect your view of aging? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Old age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-age/) ## Related quotes > [The body is like the earth ... as vulnerable to overbuilding, being carved into parcels, cut off, overmined, and shorn of its power as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/the-body-is-like-the-earth-as-vulnerable-to-overbuilding-being-carved/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [“It were the sort of mist that soaked into your flesh, into your being, so it were like you were one with it...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nowra/it-were-the-sort-of-mist-that-soaked-into-your-flesh-into-your-being/) [Louis Nowra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nowra/) > [I want 'Flesh Of My Flesh' to be like my connection to the community, I want to say what's on my peoples' minds, soak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmx/i-want-flesh-of-my-flesh-to-be-like-my-connection-to-the-community-i/) [DMX](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmx/) > [“Our flesh is like silly putty that distorts when it is ignored. 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