--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They are beautiful, heart-rendingly…" description: "\"“They are beautiful, heart-rendingly beautiful, those wilds, with a quality of wide-eyed, unsung, innocent surrender that my lacquered, toy-bright Swis..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/vladimir-nabokov-198_america_they-are-beautiful-heart-rendingly-beaut_1063487.jpg" --- # They are beautiful, heart-rendingly beautiful, those… ![“They are beautiful, heart-rendingly beautiful, those wilds, with a quality of wide-eyed, unsung, innocent surrender that my lacquered, toy-bright Swiss villages and exhaustively lauded Alps no longer possess. Innumerable lovers have clipped and kissed on the trim turf of old-world mountainsides…” quote by Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/vladimir-nabokov-198_america_they-are-beautiful-heart-rendingly-beaut_1063487.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/vladimir-nabokov-198_america_they-are-beautiful-heart-rendingly-beaut_1063487.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/vladimir-nabokov-198_america_they-are-beautiful-heart-rendingly-beaut_1063487.jpg) > ““They are beautiful, heart-rendingly beautiful, those wilds, with a quality of wide-eyed, unsung, innocent surrender that my lacquered, toy-bright Swiss villages and exhaustively lauded Alps no longer possess. Innumerable lovers have clipped and kissed on the trim turf of old-world mountainsides, on the innerspring moss, by a handy, hygienic rill, on rustic benches under the initialed oaks, and in so many cabanes in so so many beech forests. But in the Wilds of America the open-air lover will not find it easy to indulge in the most ancient of all crimes and pastimes. Poisonous plants burn his sweetheart's buttocks, nameless insects sting his; sharp items of the forest floor prick his knees, insects hers; and all around there abides a sustained rustle of potential snakes--que dis-je,of semi-extinct dragons!--while the crablike seeds of ferocious flowers cling, in a hideous green crust, to gartered black sock and sloppy white sock alike.”” [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The wild American landscape is both beautiful and perilous, contrasting with sanitized European scenes. **In simple terms:** Wild nature is beautiful but dangerous. Key Takeaway Respect nature’s power and beauty. Themes nature beauty danger contrast Mood adventurous poetic Type literary descriptive When to use this quote - hiking - travel - photography - conservation - outdoor writing Key Concepts romanticism environmental perception Questions to Reflect On - What draws you to wild places? - How do you balance awe and safety? A Different Perspective The quote idealizes danger, overlooking safety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Gardening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardening/) [Lolita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lolita/) [Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness/) [Wilds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilds/) ## Related quotes > [“It is indeed a tricky name. 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They rule Earth, maintain order, protect us from the Wilds, But the are not us. They are Other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trisha-leigh/we-don-t-quesiton-the-others-they-rule-earth-maintain-order-protect/) [Trisha Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trisha-leigh/) > [Fatten me if you want to give me meat for the wilds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammad-mustafa/fatten-me-if-you-want-to-give-me-meat-for-the-wilds/) [Mohammad MUSTAFA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammad-mustafa/) ## More by Vladimir Nabokov > [And the rest is rust and stardust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/and-the-rest-is-rust-and-stardust/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [There is no science without fancy and no art without fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/there-is-no-science-without-fancy-and-no-art-without-fact/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“My solemn exasperation was to her the silence of love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/my-solemn-exasperation-was-to-her-the-silence-of-love/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [ “...under no circumstances would he \[Humbert Humbert\] have interfered with the innocence of a child, if there was the least risk of a row.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/under-no-circumstances-would-he-humbert-humbert-have-interfered-with/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/the-cradle-rocks-above-an-abyss-and-common-sense-tells-us-that-our/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“Ami azt illeti, Vannak kezdtek nagyon tetszeni a fák is, a csodák is meg az Adák is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/ami-azt-illeti-vannak-kezdtek-nagyon-tetszeni-a-f-k-is-a-csod-k-is/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [We live not only in a world of thoughts, but also in a world of things. 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Come on over here, you foolish little doe, and tell me on what day I shall die.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/it-isn-t-possible-i-cannot-imagine-it-come-on-over-here-you-foolish/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“Precautions to be taken in the case Of freak reincarnation: what to do On suddenly discovering that you Are now a young and vulnerable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/precautions-to-be-taken-in-the-case-of-freak-reincarnation-what-to-do/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [And this is the only immortality you and i may share, my Lolita.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/and-this-is-the-only-immortality-you-and-i-may-share-my-lolita/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“Be true to your Dick.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/be-true-to-your-dick/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“It is indeed a tricky name. 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