I think I could turn and live with animals, they’re so placid and self contain’d,
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things,
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the earth.
—Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 32
Yes, and it makes one feel shame when compared to animals and the rhythm of nature. I have never figured out how humans came to think they were above nature. We are fortunate to be part of it but don’t even know we are.
I have enjoyed your blogs – even if reluctant to comment. Please continue!
Here’s one place the idea came from, Elsa: