--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are not talking about esthetics. We…" description: "\"We are not talking about esthetics. We are talking about life: survival of Man. We must train young people to get another vision of Nature. We call it ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/thor-heyerdahl-18316_beauty_we-are-not-talking-about-esthetics-we-ar_363578.jpg" --- # We are not talking about esthetics. We are talking about… ![“We are not talking about esthetics. We are talking about life: survival of Man. We must train young people to get another vision of Nature. We call it 'wilderness,' and we think it is progress to get further and further away from it. How crazy! Where would we have been if Nature had not built us up?” quote by Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/thor-heyerdahl-18316_beauty_we-are-not-talking-about-esthetics-we-ar_363578.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/thor-heyerdahl-18316_beauty_we-are-not-talking-about-esthetics-we-ar_363578.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/thor-heyerdahl-18316_beauty_we-are-not-talking-about-esthetics-we-ar_363578.jpg) > “We are not talking about esthetics. We are talking about life: survival of Man. We must train young people to get another vision of Nature. We call it 'wilderness,' and we think it is progress to get further and further away from it. How crazy! Where would we have been if Nature had not built us up?” [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He warns that modern society distances itself from nature, mistaking wilderness for progress, endangering humanity's survival. **In simple terms:** We ignore nature, thinking progress means moving away from it. Key Takeaway Re‑connect with nature for true survival. Themes environment survival progress humanity Mood concerned urgent Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - education reform - urban planning - conservation policy - personal lifestyle choices Key Concepts ecology anthropocentrism modernity Questions to Reflect On - How does our view of wilderness shape our choices? - What would a life integrated with nature look like? A Different Perspective He may romanticize nature without addressing practical needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built/) [Crazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crazy/) [Environmental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-built-3333289/) [Nature Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-wilderness-2744283/) [Not talking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/not-talking/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Survival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survival/) [Talking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talking/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Train](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train/) [Vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision/) [Vision Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision-nature-1097851/) [Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness/) [Wilderness Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness-think-3333288/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) [Young people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-people/) ## Related quotes > [“If you reconnect with nature and the wilderness you will not only find the meaning of life, but you will experience what it means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-dolson/if-you-reconnect-with-nature-and-the-wilderness-you-will-not-only/) [Sylvia Dolson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-dolson/) > [“...I found myself questioning many assumptions about 'nature' and 'wilderness' that were common in conservation at the time. Were all introduced species really bad?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-marris/i-found-myself-questioning-many-assumptions-about-nature-and/) [Emma Marris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-marris/) > [“I like to think we were man and wife. Life itself can be sacramental. The supposition was that we would be leaving the Garden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-like-to-think-we-were-man-and-wife-life-itself-can-be-sacramental/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [The pursuit of science has often been compared to the scaling of mountains, high and not so high. But who amongst us can hope,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-pursuit-of-science-has-often-been-compared-to-the-scaling-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The wheels and springs of man are all set to the hypothesis of the permanence of nature. 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But I'm not talking about one Earth race, Jewish or non-Jewish.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-icke/the-families-in-positions-of-great-financial-power-obsessively/) [David Icke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-icke/) ## More by Thor Heyerdahl > [One learns more from listening than speaking.And both the wind and the people who continue to live close to nature still have much to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/one-learns-more-from-listening-than-speaking-and-both-the-wind-and/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [“Progress can today be defined as man's ability to complicate simplicity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/progress-can-today-be-defined-as-man-s-ability-to-complicate/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [I have never been able to grasp the meaning of time. I don't believe it exists. 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Will you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/am-going-to-cross-pacific-on-a-wooden-raft-to-support-a-theory-that/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [Any scientist can testify that a dead ocean means a dead planet … No national law, no national precautions can save the planet. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/any-scientist-can-testify-that-a-dead-ocean-means-a-dead-planet-no/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [“It was a great moment on board when two large boobies were spotted above the horizon to westward”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/it-was-a-great-moment-on-board-when-two-large-boobies-were-spotted/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [Man invents the most inhuman armaments to assault others so like himself that uniforms are needed to distinguish between friend and foe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/man-invents-the-most-inhuman-armaments-to-assault-others-so-like/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [It is also rarer to find happiness in a man surrounded by the miracles of technology than among people living in the desert of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/it-is-also-rarer-to-find-happiness-in-a-man-surrounded-by-the/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [But if we begin thinking about the world being over 100 million years old, then it's absolutely by chance that you and I are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/but-if-we-begin-thinking-about-the-world-being-over-100-million-years/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [Surrounded by military airplanes and warships from the world's most civilized and developed nations, we have been denied permission by friendly governments, for reasons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/surrounded-by-military-airplanes-and-warships-from-the-world-s-most/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [It is progress when a centuries-old oak is cut down to give space for a road sign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/it-is-progress-when-a-centuries-old-oak-is-cut-down-to-give-space-for/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [In fighting nature, man can win every battle except the last. If he should win that too, he will perish, like an embryo cutting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/in-fighting-nature-man-can-win-every-battle-except-the-last-if-he/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) > [Borders I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist in the minds of some people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-heyerdahl/borders-i-have-never-seen-one-but-i-have-heard-they-exist-in-the/) [Thor Heyerdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) [Explore all 34 Thor Heyerdahl quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-heyerdahl/) ## More Beauty quotes > [We do not want nowadays temples of worship and outward rites and ceremonies. What we really want is an Asram. We want a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-do-not-want-nowadays-temples-of-worship-and-outward-rites-and/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. 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