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56 Inspiring Diane Ackerman Quotes

Famous As: Poet, essayist, and naturalist known for a 1990 nonfiction work entitled A Natural History of the Senses
Born On: October 7, 1948
Born In: Waukegan, Illinois, United States
Age: 74 Years
Diane Ackerman is an American naturalist, author, essayist, teacher and poet who gained recognition for her unique way of exploring the wonders of the world through her poems. She studied English at Pennsylvania State University, before going on to acquire a masters degree and Ph.D. in fine arts from Cornell University. Ackeman has also taught at both Cornell University and Columbia University during her illustrious career. She has conducted research on natural phenomena at far corners of the world and her essays on these subjects have appeared in some of the leading publications like ‘The New Yorker’, ‘National Geographic’, ‘The New York Times’, ‘Parade and Smithsonian’. Ackerman has also been a prolific non-fiction writer and some of her noted works include ‘The Human Age: The World Shaped by Us’, ‘Dawn Light’, ‘One Hundred Names of Love’, ‘An Alchemy of Mind’, ‘Cultivating Delight’, ‘The Rarest of the Rare’, ‘A Natural History of Love’ and ‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’, which is to be turned into a motion picture. Ackerman is rightly considered to be among the most influential naturalists in the world. Her essays, writings and poems give a glimpse about her passion and love as an environmentalist. We have scanned Diane Ackerman's several works and writings to highlight her most popular and relevant quotes. Here is a collection of Diane Ackerman’s quotes and thoughts on love, life, rainbow, mystery, nature, spirituality, beauty, environment, creatures, planet and enrichment.
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I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.

Diane Ackerman
Wonder is the heaviest element on the periodic table. Even a tiny fleck of it stops time.

Wonder is the heaviest element on the periodic table. Even a tiny fleck of it stops time.

Diane Ackerman
It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.

It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.

Diane Ackerman
Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world.

Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world.

Diane Ackerman
Who would deduce the dragonfly from the larva, the iris from the bud, the lawyer from the infant? ...We are all shape-shifters and magical reinventors. Life is really a plural noun, a caravan of selves.

Who would deduce the dragonfly from the larva, the iris from the bud, the lawyer from the infant? ...We are all shape-shifters and magical reinventors. Life is really a plural noun, a caravan of selves.

Diane Ackerman
I don’t want to be a passenger in my own life.

I don’t want to be a passenger in my own life.

Diane Ackerman
Libraries change lives. They are the soul of a people.

Libraries change lives. They are the soul of a people.

Diane Ackerman
Of all the errands life seems to be running, of all the mysteries that enchant us, love is my favorite

Of all the errands life seems to be running, of all the mysteries that enchant us, love is my favorite

Diane Ackerman
There's no place you can go on the prairie that you don't hear the white noise of the wind, steady and rough as surf curling along a non-existant shore.

There's no place you can go on the prairie that you don't hear the white noise of the wind, steady and rough as surf curling along a non-existant shore.

Diane Ackerman
I watched her face switch among the radio stations of memory

I watched her face switch among the radio stations of memory

Diane Ackerman
Love seems to be as Essential as Sunlight

Love seems to be as Essential as Sunlight

Diane Ackerman
Which is crueler, an old man's lost memories of a life lived, or a young man's lost memories of the life he meant to live?

Which is crueler, an old man's lost memories of a life lived, or a young man's lost memories of the life he meant to live?

Diane Ackerman
And yet, words are the passkeys to our souls. Without them, we can't really share the enormity of our lives.

And yet, words are the passkeys to our souls. Without them, we can't really share the enormity of our lives.

Diane Ackerman
To begin to understand the gorgeous fever that is consciousness, we must try to understand the senses and what they can tell us about the ravishing world we have the privilege to inhabit.

To begin to understand the gorgeous fever that is consciousness, we must try to understand the senses and what they can tell us about the ravishing world we have the privilege to inhabit.

Diane Ackerman
Couples are jigsaw puzzles that hang together by touching in just enough points.

Couples are jigsaw puzzles that hang together by touching in just enough points.

Diane Ackerman
For me, life offers so many complexly appealing moments that two beautiful objects may be equally beautiful for different reasons and at different times. How can one choose?

For me, life offers so many complexly appealing moments that two beautiful objects may be equally beautiful for different reasons and at different times. How can one choose?

Diane Ackerman
Love is like a batik created from many emotional colors, it is a fabric whose pattern and brightness may vary.

Love is like a batik created from many emotional colors, it is a fabric whose pattern and brightness may vary.

Diane Ackerman
We can't enchant the world, which makes its own magic; but we can enchant ourselves by paying deep attention

We can't enchant the world, which makes its own magic; but we can enchant ourselves by paying deep attention

Diane Ackerman
I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the lenght of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the lenght of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.

Diane Ackerman
Fear is danger to your body, but disgust is danger to your soul.

Fear is danger to your body, but disgust is danger to your soul.

Diane Ackerman
How can love's spaciousness
be conveyed in the narrow
confines of one syllable?

How can love's spaciousness be conveyed in the narrow confines of one syllable?

Diane Ackerman
The daftest logic brings such sweet unrest.

The daftest logic brings such sweet unrest.

Diane Ackerman
Couples are jigsaw puzzles that hang together by touching in just enough points. They're never total fits or misfits. ... We marry children who have grown up and still rejoice in being children .... [p. 15]

Couples are jigsaw puzzles that hang together by touching in just enough points. They're never total fits or misfits. ... We marry children who have grown up and still rejoice in being children .... [p. 15]

Diane Ackerman
Alligators have beautiful undulating skin, which feels dense, spongy, solid, like the best eraser.

Alligators have beautiful undulating skin, which feels dense, spongy, solid, like the best eraser.

Diane Ackerman
Below us somewhere in the gelatinous phantasmagoria of churning blue, the whales wouldn't be much aware of the storm.

Below us somewhere in the gelatinous phantasmagoria of churning blue, the whales wouldn't be much aware of the storm.

Diane Ackerman
Everyone admits that love is wonderful and necessary, yet no one agrees on just what it is.

Everyone admits that love is wonderful and necessary, yet no one agrees on just what it is.

Diane Ackerman
No matter how politely one says it, we owe our existence to the farts of blue-green algae.

No matter how politely one says it, we owe our existence to the farts of blue-green algae.

Diane Ackerman
Insight roams the sea of the unconscious like the Loch Ness monster, a rumor whose wake occasionally becomes visible, but even then it's mystifying and scarcely believed.

Insight roams the sea of the unconscious like the Loch Ness monster, a rumor whose wake occasionally becomes visible, but even then it's mystifying and scarcely believed.

Diane Ackerman
Our lives together, our duet, also continues to evolve, and even if we can’t go back to how it was, we’re designing a good life for us, in spite of everything.

Our lives together, our duet, also continues to evolve, and even if we can’t go back to how it was, we’re designing a good life for us, in spite of everything.

Diane Ackerman
But who can say why two people become a couple, that small principality of mutual protection and regard? Couples are jigsaw puzzles that hang together by touching in just enough points.

But who can say why two people become a couple, that small principality of mutual protection and regard? Couples are jigsaw puzzles that hang together by touching in just enough points.

Diane Ackerman
Germany's crime is the greatest crime the world has ever known, because it is not on the scale of History: it is on the scale of Evolution.

Germany's crime is the greatest crime the world has ever known, because it is not on the scale of History: it is on the scale of Evolution.

Diane Ackerman
For if I do something, I never do it thoughtlessly.

For if I do something, I never do it thoughtlessly.

Diane Ackerman
God may promise not to destroy creation, but it is not a promise humankind made - to our peril.

God may promise not to destroy creation, but it is not a promise humankind made - to our peril.

Diane Ackerman
It's like having a head full of holes, in which the perfect repository of words have shamed themselves,

It's like having a head full of holes, in which the perfect repository of words have shamed themselves," he lamented.

Diane Ackerman
Still, though no one is an island, most are peninsulas. Our lives wouldn't make sense without personal memories pinned like butterflies against the velvet backdrop of social history.

Still, though no one is an island, most are peninsulas. Our lives wouldn't make sense without personal memories pinned like butterflies against the velvet backdrop of social history.

Diane Ackerman
Sometimes with a flutter of agitated worry that felt like a beetle was trapped inside my ribs. p. 90

Sometimes with a flutter of agitated worry that felt like a beetle was trapped inside my ribs. p. 90

Diane Ackerman
The Germans have removed, murdered or burned alive tens of thousands of Jews. Out of the three million Polsih Jews, no more than 10 percent remain.

The Germans have removed, murdered or burned alive tens of thousands of Jews. Out of the three million Polsih Jews, no more than 10 percent remain.

Diane Ackerman
Every day our life was full of thoughts of the horrible present, and even our own death.

Every day our life was full of thoughts of the horrible present, and even our own death.

Diane Ackerman
Antonina felt convinced that people needed to connect more with their animal nature, but also that animals long for human company, reach out for human attention.

Antonina felt convinced that people needed to connect more with their animal nature, but also that animals long for human company, reach out for human attention.

Diane Ackerman
It began in mystery and it will end in mystery, but what a rare and beautiful country lies in between.

It began in mystery and it will end in mystery, but what a rare and beautiful country lies in between.

Diane Ackerman
Suffering took hold of me like a magic spell abolishing all differences between friends and strangers.

Suffering took hold of me like a magic spell abolishing all differences between friends and strangers.

Diane Ackerman
The senses don’t just make sense of life in bold or subtle acts of clarity, they tear reality apart into vibrant morsels and reassemble them into a meaningful pattern.

The senses don’t just make sense of life in bold or subtle acts of clarity, they tear reality apart into vibrant morsels and reassemble them into a meaningful pattern.

Diane Ackerman
Listen, I'd rather lie naked in a plowed field under an incontinent horse for a week than have to read that paragraph again!

Listen, I'd rather lie naked in a plowed field under an incontinent horse for a week than have to read that paragraph again!

Diane Ackerman
In the early years of the Uprising, we survived on one meal a day of horse meat and soup, but by the end we ate only dried peas, dogs, cats and birds.

In the early years of the Uprising, we survived on one meal a day of horse meat and soup, but by the end we ate only dried peas, dogs, cats and birds.

Diane Ackerman
A good strategy should dictate the right actions. Any action mustn't be impulsive, but analyzed along with all its possible outcomes. A solid plan always includes many backups and alternatives.

A good strategy should dictate the right actions. Any action mustn't be impulsive, but analyzed along with all its possible outcomes. A solid plan always includes many backups and alternatives.

Diane Ackerman
I do feel responsible. He used to be able to look after himself. Now he can't. That's so different, so strange. The big question is: Is more improvement really possible, or should I stop pushing him?' [p. 153]

I do feel responsible. He used to be able to look after himself. Now he can't. That's so different, so strange. The big question is: Is more improvement really possible, or should I stop pushing him?' [p. 153]

Diane Ackerman
Writing, which is my form of celebration and prayer, is also my form of inquiry.

Writing, which is my form of celebration and prayer, is also my form of inquiry.

Diane Ackerman
There is a furnace in our cells, and when we breathe we pass the world through our bodies, brew it lightly, and turn it loose again, gently altered for having known us.

There is a furnace in our cells, and when we breathe we pass the world through our bodies, brew it lightly, and turn it loose again, gently altered for having known us.

Diane Ackerman
They spend their whole lives yelling at the world and each other. They yell at their loved ones, they yell at their enemies, they yell at their dinner, they yell at the big bustling world.

They spend their whole lives yelling at the world and each other. They yell at their loved ones, they yell at their enemies, they yell at their dinner, they yell at the big bustling world.

Diane Ackerman
What sort of stewards of the future planet will today’s digital children be?

What sort of stewards of the future planet will today’s digital children be?

Diane Ackerman
Without memories we wouldn't know who we are, how we once were, who we'd like to be in the memorable future. We are the sum of our memories.

Without memories we wouldn't know who we are, how we once were, who we'd like to be in the memorable future. We are the sum of our memories.

Diane Ackerman
Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world. But they are shapes, they bring the world into focus, they corral ideas, they hone thoughts, they paint watercolors of perception.

Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world. But they are shapes, they bring the world into focus, they corral ideas, they hone thoughts, they paint watercolors of perception.

Diane Ackerman
Perversion is the erotic form of hatred.

Perversion is the erotic form of hatred.

Diane Ackerman
Music, the perfume of hearing, probably began as a religious act, to arouse groups of people.

Music, the perfume of hearing, probably began as a religious act, to arouse groups of people.

Diane Ackerman
As fleeting emotions stalk it, a face can leak fear or the guilt of a forming lie.

As fleeting emotions stalk it, a face can leak fear or the guilt of a forming lie.

Diane Ackerman
Selves will accumulate when one isn’t looking, and they don’t always act wisely or well.

Selves will accumulate when one isn’t looking, and they don’t always act wisely or well.

Diane Ackerman