--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a spiritual capacity in carbon…" description: "\"There is a spiritual capacity in carbon as there is a carbon component functioning in our highest spiritual experience. If some scientists consider tha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46d/thomas-berry-7391_awe_there-is-a-spiritual-capacity-in-carbon_1343246.jpg" --- # There is a spiritual capacity in carbon as there is a… ![“There is a spiritual capacity in carbon as there is a carbon component functioning in our highest spiritual experience. If some scientists consider that all this is merely a material process, then what they call matter, I call mind, soul, spirit, or consciousness. Possibly it is a question of…” quote by Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46d/thomas-berry-7391_awe_there-is-a-spiritual-capacity-in-carbon_1343246.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46d/thomas-berry-7391_awe_there-is-a-spiritual-capacity-in-carbon_1343246.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46d/thomas-berry-7391_awe_there-is-a-spiritual-capacity-in-carbon_1343246.jpg) > “There is a spiritual capacity in carbon as there is a carbon component functioning in our highest spiritual experience. If some scientists consider that all this is merely a material process, then what they call matter, I call mind, soul, spirit, or consciousness. Possibly it is a question of terminology, since scientists too on occasion use terms that express awe and mystery. Most often, perhaps, they use the expression that some of the natural forms they encounter seem to be "telling them something."” [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Carbon’s role in nature mirrors spiritual experiences; some view matter as mind, soul, or consciousness, suggesting a deep link between science and spirituality. **In simple terms:** Carbon links material and spiritual realms. Key Takeaway Explore the spiritual dimension of scientific phenomena. Themes nature spirituality science Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - environmental education - spiritual retreats - scientific research - artistic creation Key Concepts philosophy ecology consciousness Questions to Reflect On - Can scientific language capture spiritual experiences? - How does this view affect environmental stewardship? A Different Perspective Scientific materialism may reject spiritual interpretations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awe/) [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Encounters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/encounters/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Natural forms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-forms/) [Occasions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occasions/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Spiritual experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-experience/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) ## Related quotes > [“Vaporized by the sun! Wasn't that what the universe had in store for all of us? There would come a day when the sun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/vaporized-by-the-sun-wasn-t-that-what-the-universe-had-in-store-for/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [Some say that everything that is called a psychical law is nothing but the psychological reflex of physical combinations, which is made up of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-wundt/some-say-that-everything-that-is-called-a-psychical-law-is-nothing/) [Wilhelm Wundt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-wundt/) > [It seemed clear to me that life and the world somehow depended upon me now. I may almost say that the world now seemed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/it-seemed-clear-to-me-that-life-and-the-world-somehow-depended-upon/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [Only when you can understand yourself as All Pervading Consciousness can you possibly understand that all the universe is an emanation of your mind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/only-when-you-can-understand-yourself-as-all-pervading-consciousness/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [The only thing that is unqualifiedly given is the total pervasive quality; and the objection to calling it "given" is that the word suggests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-only-thing-that-is-unqualifiedly-given-is-the-total-pervasive/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The adoration of the sun was one of the earliest and most natural forms of religious expression. Complex modern theologies are merely involvements and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manly-hall/the-adoration-of-the-sun-was-one-of-the-earliest-and-most-natural/) [Manly Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manly-hall/) > [Expressing gratitude to our benefactors is a natural form of love. In fact, some people find loving kindness for themselves so hard, they begin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/expressing-gratitude-to-our-benefactors-is-a-natural-form-of-love-in/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [Work is man's most natural form of relaxation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dagobert-d-runes/work-is-man-s-most-natural-form-of-relaxation/) [Dagobert D. Runes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dagobert-d-runes/) > [In my opinion, everything, every shape, every bit of natural form, animals, people, pebbles, shells, anything you like are all things that can help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/in-my-opinion-everything-every-shape-every-bit-of-natural-form/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [“True beauty is to be found in natural forms. The more we magnify, and the closer we examine, the works of Artifice, the grosser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/true-beauty-is-to-be-found-in-natural-forms-the-more-we-magnify-and/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [Nature in no case cometh short of art, for the arts are copiers of natural forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/nature-in-no-case-cometh-short-of-art-for-the-arts-are-copiers-of/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [No form of Nature is inferior to Art; for the arts merely imitate natural forms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/no-form-of-nature-is-inferior-to-art-for-the-arts-merely-imitate/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [I have always been very interested in landscape... I find that all natural forms are a source of unending interest - tree trunks, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/i-have-always-been-very-interested-in-landscape-i-find-that-all/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/to-suppose-that-the-eye-could-have-been-formed-by-natural-selection/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [ He \[ the son\]'s grown up listening to all types of music, and the natural form of rebellion is to find the one genre… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solange-knowles/he-the-son-s-grown-up-listening-to-all-types-of-music-and-the-natural/) [Solange Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solange-knowles/) ## More by Thomas Berry > [Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/teaching-children-about-the-natural-world-should-be-seen-as-one-of/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [All human activities, professions, programs, and institutions must henceforth be judged primarily by the extent to which they inhibit, ignore, or foster a mutually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/all-human-activities-professions-programs-and-institutions-must/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [The universe must be experienced as the Great Self. Each is fulfilled in the other: the Great Self is fulfilled in the individual self,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/the-universe-must-be-experienced-as-the-great-self-each-is-fulfilled/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [To attain peace among the nations in any dynamic or enduring form requires not simply political negotiation but a new mode of consciousness. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/to-attain-peace-among-the-nations-in-any-dynamic-or-enduring-form/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [The divine communicates to us primarily through the language of the natural world. Not to hear the natural world is not to hear the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/the-divine-communicates-to-us-primarily-through-the-language-of-the/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [ During this period (of technological confinement / \[and language\]) the human mind has been placed in its narrowest confines it has experienced since consciousness… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/during-this-period-of-technological-confinement-and-language-the/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [As humans we are born of the Earth, nourished by the Earth, healed by the Earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/as-humans-we-are-born-of-the-earth-nourished-by-the-earth-healed-by/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [Our present urgency is to recover a sense of the primacy of the Universe as our fundamental context, and the primacy of the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/our-present-urgency-is-to-recover-a-sense-of-the-primacy-of-the/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [There is an ultimate wildness in all this, for the universe, as existence itself, is a terrifying as well as a benign mode of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/there-is-an-ultimate-wildness-in-all-this-for-the-universe-as/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [The Universe is a unity, an interacting and genetically-related community of beings bound together in an inseparable relationship in space and time... The human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/the-universe-is-a-unity-an-interacting-and-genetically-related/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [The future rests in the religious, political, economic and cultural capacity of humans to establish this larger context in which the particular traditions will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/the-future-rests-in-the-religious-political-economic-and-cultural/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [We see quite clearly that what happens to the nonhuman, happens to the human. What happens to the outer world, happens to the inner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/we-see-quite-clearly-that-what-happens-to-the-nonhuman-happens-to-the/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [Because of this erotic bond, the earth becomes luxuriant in its every aspect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/because-of-this-erotic-bond-the-earth-becomes-luxuriant-in-its-every/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [Our fulfillment is not in our isolated human grandeur, but in our intimacy with the larger earth community, for this is also the larger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/our-fulfillment-is-not-in-our-isolated-human-grandeur-but-in-our/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [We can break the mountains apart; we can drain the rivers and flood the valleys. We can turn the most luxuriant forests into throw-away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/we-can-break-the-mountains-apart-we-can-drain-the-rivers-and-flood/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) [Explore all 91 Thomas Berry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) ## More Awe quotes > [Because I've never had any higher education of any sort, I've never held in awe those who have had it or have a sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-corbyn/because-i-ve-never-had-any-higher-education-of-any-sort-i-ve-never/) [Jeremy Corbyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-corbyn/) > [Of course the Dharma-body of the Buddha was the hedge at the bottom of the garden. At the same time, and no less obviously,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/of-course-the-dharma-body-of-the-buddha-was-the-hedge-at-the-bottom/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [When I look at the human brain I'm still in awe of it. Every single time you lift off the bone and open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/when-i-look-at-the-human-brain-i-m-still-in-awe-of-it-every-single/) [Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/) > [“I know you deserve better than me. You think I don’t know that? But if there was any woman made for me … it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/i-know-you-deserve-better-than-me-you-think-i-don-t-know-that-but-if/) [Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/) > [There are certain scenes that would awe an atheist into belief without the help of any other argument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gray/there-are-certain-scenes-that-would-awe-an-atheist-into-belief/) [Thomas Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gray/) > [As we contemplate with reverence and awe how our Savior embraces us, comforts us, and heals us, let us commit to become His hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/as-we-contemplate-with-reverence-and-awe-how-our-savior-embraces-us/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [My journey deep into coma, outside this lowly physical realm and into the loftiest dwelling place of the almighty Creator, revealed the indescribably immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-alexander/my-journey-deep-into-coma-outside-this-lowly-physical-realm-and-into/) [Eben Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-alexander/) > [Awe combined with intimacy is the essence of Christian worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/awe-combined-with-intimacy-is-the-essence-of-christian-worship/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [“Oftentimes we call Life bitter names, but only when we ourselves are bitter and dark. And we deem her empty and unprofitable, but only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/oftentimes-we-call-life-bitter-names-but-only-when-we-ourselves-are/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [The laws of nature are the skeleton of the universe. They support it, give it shape, tie it together. Taken as a whole, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-trefil/the-laws-of-nature-are-the-skeleton-of-the-universe-they-support-it/) James Trefil > [When you look at yourself and feel dissatisfaction about any part of you, you will continue to attract feelings of dissatisfaction, because the law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/when-you-look-at-yourself-and-feel-dissatisfaction-about-any-part-of/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [“What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? 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