Quote by Henry Van Dyke

Who can explain the secret pathos of Nature's loveliness? It is a touch of melancholy inherited from our mother Eve. It is an unconscious memory of the lost Paradise. It is the sense that even if we should find another Eden, we would not be fit to enjoy it perfectly nor stay in it forever.

Who can explain the secret pathos of Nature's loveliness? It

Summary

This quote suggests that there is a hidden, underlying sadness in the beauty of nature. The touch of melancholy associated with nature's loveliness is believed to be inherited from Eve, our primal mother who lost her Paradise. It implies that this sense of melancholy stems from an unconscious memory of this lost Paradise. Furthermore, it suggests that even if we were to discover another perfect paradise, our imperfections would prevent us from fully appreciating it or being able to stay there indefinitely.

Topics

Nature

By Henry Van Dyke

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

I have worked with this red all over the world - in Japan, C

I have worked with this red all over the world - in Japan, California, France, Britain, Australia - a vein running round the earth. It has taught me about the flow, energy and life that connects one place with another.

Andy Goldsworthy

Life Places

Music is more emotional than prose, more revolutionary than

Music is more emotional than prose, more revolutionary than poetry. I'm not saying I've got the answers, just a of questions that I don't hear other artists asking.

Poetry

My mother was a teacher, my father was a community organizer

My mother was a teacher, my father was a community organizer. I come from a working class background.

Teacher

War begets quiet, quiet idleness, idleness disorder, disorde

War begets quiet, quiet idleness, idleness disorder, disorder ruin; likewise ruin order, order virtue, virtue glory, and good fortune.

Sir Walter Raleigh

War

Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a rig

Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.

My English text is chaste, and all licentious passages are l

My English text is chaste, and all licentious passages are left in the obscurity of a learned language.

Profanity Vulgarity

I'll put it frankly - Britain has more influence in China th

I'll put it frankly - Britain has more influence in China than Norway or Switzerland, with all respect for the other countries.

Jose Manuel Barroso

Respect

Life does not accommodate you, it shatters you. It is meant

Life does not accommodate you, it shatters you. It is meant to, and it couldn't do it better. Every seed destroys its container or else there would be no fruition.

Florida Scott Maxwell

Life

Food is not rational. Food is culture, habit, craving and id

Food is not rational. Food is culture, habit, craving and identity.

Jonathan Safran Foer

Food

One drop has just fallen.It is a precious moment, and one th

One drop has just fallen.It is a precious moment, and one that is full of poignancy. In surrendering to gravity and slipping off the leaf, the drop loses its previous identity and joins the vastness of the water below. We can imagine that it must have trembled before it fell, just on the edge between the known and the unknowable.

Osho [Chandra Mohan Jain], The Z

Perception

The more horrifying this world becomes, the more art becomes

The more horrifying this world becomes, the more art becomes abstract.

Art

The believer is happy; the doubter is wise.

The believer is happy; the doubter is wise.

Doubt