--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a country to breed mystical people…" description: "\"“It is a country to breed mystical people, egocentric people, perhaps poetic people. But not humble ones…Puny you may feel there, and vulnerable, but n..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99c/wallace-stegner-1352_canadian-history_it-is-a-country-to-breed-mystical-people_736503.png" --- # It is a country to breed mystical people, egocentric… ![“It is a country to breed mystical people, egocentric people, perhaps poetic people. But not humble ones…Puny you may feel there, and vulnerable, but not unnoticed. This is a land to mark the sparrow’s fall” quote by Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99c/wallace-stegner-1352_canadian-history_it-is-a-country-to-breed-mystical-people_736503.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99c/wallace-stegner-1352_canadian-history_it-is-a-country-to-breed-mystical-people_736503.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99c/wallace-stegner-1352_canadian-history_it-is-a-country-to-breed-mystical-people_736503.png) > ““It is a country to breed mystical people, egocentric people, perhaps poetic people. But not humble ones…Puny you may feel there, and vulnerable, but not unnoticed. This is a land to mark the sparrow’s fall”” [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage portrays a place that nurtures creative, self‑absorbed individuals while lacking humility, making the vulnerable visible yet unappreciated. **In simple terms:** A land that breeds bold but not humble people. Key Takeaway Recognize and value humility in creative communities. Themes creativity humility vulnerability recognition Mood reflective thoughtful Type observational critical When to use this quote - artistic circles - academic departments - online communities - leadership teams Key Concepts individualism social dynamics identity formation Questions to Reflect On - How does humility influence creative expression? - What structures can support humble voices? A Different Perspective The critique may overlook the role of cultural tradition in fostering humility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Canadian history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canadian-history/) [Environmental history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental-history/) [Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) ## Related quotes > [I don't think my lyrics go so well when I try to sound poetic. Some people do that really well. If I did that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-bundick/i-don-t-think-my-lyrics-go-so-well-when-i-try-to-sound-poetic-some/) [Chaz Bundick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaz-bundick/) > [“Simply put, self-centered and egocentric people don't inspire others. We are inspired by people who place others-- other people, other ideas, other goals-- above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/del-suggs/simply-put-self-centered-and-egocentric-people-don-t-inspire-others/) [Del Suggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/del-suggs/) > [“Egocentrism is the problem, then, not Egos. Egocentric people are agents for themselves only (and perhaps also for their immediate families), without awareness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-plotkin/egocentrism-is-the-problem-then-not-egos-egocentric-people-are-agents/) [Bill Plotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-plotkin/) > [“We stood by and allowed what happened to the Great Plains a century ago, the destruction of one of the ecological wonders of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-flores/we-stood-by-and-allowed-what-happened-to-the-great-plains-a-century/) Dan Flores > [“The prairie skies can always make you see more than what you believe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-burnett/the-prairie-skies-can-always-make-you-see-more-than-what-you-believe/) [Jackson Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-burnett/) > [“It's hard to think of the divide where I grew up as a watershed. The creeks are dry most of the year, rainfall is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-a-colburn/it-s-hard-to-think-of-the-divide-where-i-grew-up-as-a-watershed-the/) Faith A. Colburn > [Whenever fortune wishes to joke, she lifts people from what is humble to the highest extremity of affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/whenever-fortune-wishes-to-joke-she-lifts-people-from-what-is-humble/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [all great people are humble because great people have great work and are humbled by the largeness of their dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/all-great-people-are-humble-because-great-people-have-great-work-and/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I will serve the people in a very humble way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-myung-bak/i-will-serve-the-people-in-a-very-humble-way/) [Lee Myung-bak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-myung-bak/) > [I love my tribe, the Maasai are very good people and humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rudisha/i-love-my-tribe-the-maasai-are-very-good-people-and-humble/) [David Rudisha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rudisha/) > [I look at the likes of Darren Fletcher and Scott Brown and they're just normal people. They are humble and work away to become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcginn/i-look-at-the-likes-of-darren-fletcher-and-scott-brown-and-they-re/) [John McGinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcginn/) > [Luckily enough I've got great people around me to keep me humble and grounded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jadon-sancho/luckily-enough-i-ve-got-great-people-around-me-to-keep-me-humble-and/) [Jadon Sancho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jadon-sancho/) > [Beauty, to me, is kind, generous, and people that are humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-sixx/beauty-to-me-is-kind-generous-and-people-that-are-humble/) [Nikki Sixx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-sixx/) > [In A Ricefield, You Would Notice Which Heads Are Bent... Which Ones Stand Up Straight. The Empty Heads Are Standing Tall And High. But,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/in-a-ricefield-you-would-notice-which-heads-are-bent-which-ones-stand/) Pacifiersucker > [Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call "humble" nowadays: he will not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/do-not-imagine-that-if-you-meet-a-really-humble-man-he-will-be-what/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) ## More by Wallace Stegner > [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [No life goes past so swiftly as an eventless one, no clock spins like a clock whose days are all alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/no-life-goes-past-so-swiftly-as-an-eventless-one-no-clock-spins-like/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“within yourself, you became a grave for her as you were a grave for Chet, and you carried your dead unquietly within you. —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/within-yourself-you-became-a-grave-for-her-as-you-were-a-grave-for/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Towns are like people. Old ones often have character, the new ones are interchangeable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/towns-are-like-people-old-ones-often-have-character-the-new-ones-are/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [By his very profession, a serious fiction writer is a vendor of the sensuous particulars of life, a perceiver and handler of things. His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/by-his-very-profession-a-serious-fiction-writer-is-a-vendor-of-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“The creative writer is compulsively concrete . . . . His fictional house should be haunted by ideas, not inhabited by them; they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/the-creative-writer-is-compulsively-concrete-his-fictional-house/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Hard writing makes easy reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/hard-writing-makes-easy-reading/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [You married me...but you didn't marry what you could make out of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/you-married-me-but-you-didn-t-marry-what-you-could-make-out-of-me/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Wisdom. . .is knowing what you have to accept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/wisdom-is-knowing-what-you-have-to-accept/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“His mouth is full of ecology, his mind is full of fumes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/his-mouth-is-full-of-ecology-his-mind-is-full-of-fumes/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [I gave my heart to the mountains the minute I stood beside this river with its spray in my face and watched it thunder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-gave-my-heart-to-the-mountains-the-minute-i-stood-beside-this-river/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Poetry ought to be a by-product of living, and you can't have a by-product unless you've got a product first .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/poetry-ought-to-be-a-by-product-of-living-and-you-can-t-have-a-by/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/something-will-have-gone-out-of-us-as-a-people-if-we-ever-let-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Some people, I am told, have memories like computers, nothing to do but punch the button and wait for the print-out. Mine is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/some-people-i-am-told-have-memories-like-computers-nothing-to-do-but/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [ “\[Y\]ou were too alert to the figurative possibilities of words not to see the phrase \[angle of repose\] as descriptive of human as well… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/y-ou-were-too-alert-to-the-figurative-possibilities-of-words-not-to/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) [Explore all 251 Wallace Stegner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## More Canadian history quotes > [“Born of antimodern sentiment, the summer camp was ultimately a modern phenomenon, a "therapeutic space" as much dependent on the city, the factory, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-wall/born-of-antimodern-sentiment-the-summer-camp-was-ultimately-a-modern/) Sharon Wall > [“The abscess is a distant memory. The pain is gone. This dinner with her hosts and her health-care team, this week of seeing another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shireen-jeejeebhoy/the-abscess-is-a-distant-memory-the-pain-is-gone-this-dinner-with-her/) Shireen Jeejeebhoy > [There are two miracles in Canadian history. The first is the survival of French Canada, and the second is the survival of Canada.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-r-scott/there-are-two-miracles-in-canadian-history-the-first-is-the-survival/) [F. R. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-r-scott/) > [The reality of Canadian history is that we've been willing to do the important things the world demanded of us: fighting in World War…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-alexander/the-reality-of-canadian-history-is-that-we-ve-been-willing-to-do-the/) [Chris Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-alexander/) > [ “\[Stephen\] Harper had said he would use all legal means, and what \[John\] Baird suggested was an option the prome minister was considering. If… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-martin/stephen-harper-had-said-he-would-use-all-legal-means-and-what-john/) [Lawrence Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-martin/) > [I read and learned and fretted more about Canada after I left than I ever did while I was home. I absorbed anything I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-ferguson/i-read-and-learned-and-fretted-more-about-canada-after-i-left-than-i/) [Will Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-ferguson/) > [The trial of Ernst Zundel has gone down in Canadian history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-zundel/the-trial-of-ernst-zundel-has-gone-down-in-canadian-history/) [Ernst Zundel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-zundel/) > [When you go back and look at American history, it's not terribly different from Canadian history. If you weren't self-reliant on the prairie, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/when-you-go-back-and-look-at-american-history-it-s-not-terribly/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [“Women are practically invisible on the pages of Canadian history textbooks, too often overshadowed by the feats of famous men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merna-forster/women-are-practically-invisible-on-the-pages-of-canadian-history/) Merna Forster > [“So as near as I could tell the end of the world began roughly about the time that Billy Carver’s butt rang about halfway…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-vernon/so-as-near-as-i-could-tell-the-end-of-the-world-began-roughly-about/) [Steve Vernon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-vernon/) > [Burton Cummings joining the Guess Who in January 1966 changed my life forever. It's been a rocky affiliation, no doubt. One journalist once described…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-bachman/burton-cummings-joining-the-guess-who-in-january-1966-changed-my-life/) [Randy Bachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-bachman/) > [The great themes of Canadian history are as follows: Keeping the Americans out, keeping the French in, and trying to get the Natives to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-ferguson/the-great-themes-of-canadian-history-are-as-follows-keeping-the/) [Will Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-ferguson/) > [ “For \[Stephen\] Harper, a national daycare plan bordered on being a socialist scheme, a phrase he had once used to describe the Kyoto Protocol… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-martin/for-stephen-harper-a-national-daycare-plan-bordered-on-being-a/) [Lawrence Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-martin/) > [“It would seem I wouldn’t have written anything if I weren’t influenced by Canada’s history, its weather, the landscape, and its stories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-mcdonald/it-would-seem-i-wouldn-t-have-written-anything-if-i-weren-t/) Anne McDonald > [I view Indigenous Canadians as an integral part of our society, proud of their contribution to Canadian history, great deal of respect for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-scheer/i-view-indigenous-canadians-as-an-integral-part-of-our-society-proud/) [Andrew Scheer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-scheer/) [Browse all 19 Canadian history quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canadian-history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is a country to breed mystical people, egocentric people, perhaps poetic people. But not humble ones…Puny you may feel there, and vulnerable, but not unnoticed. This is a land to mark the sparrow’s fall”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wallace Stegner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/it-is-a-country-to-breed-mystical-people-egocentric-people-perhaps/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Canadian history" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/it-is-a-country-to-breed-mystical-people-egocentric-people-perhaps/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99c/wallace-stegner-1352_canadian-history_it-is-a-country-to-breed-mystical-people_736503.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99c/wallace-stegner-1352_canadian-history_it-is-a-country-to-breed-mystical-people_736503.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99c/wallace-stegner-1352_canadian-history_it-is-a-country-to-breed-mystical-people_736503.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is a country to breed mystical people, egocentric people, perhaps poetic people. But not humble ones…Puny…” — Wallace Stegner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Wallace Stegner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It is a country to breed...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/it-is-a-country-to-breed-mystical-people-egocentric-people-perhaps/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/it-is-a-country-to-breed-mystical-people-egocentric-people-perhaps/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```