I have learned that looking at an upland plover or sandhill crane is more interesting than reading the best book review I’ve ever received. I’ve learned that I can maintain my sense of the sacredness of existence only by understanding my own limitations and losing my self-importance. I’ve learned you can’t comprehend another culture unless you can stop your moment-by-moment mental defense of your own. As the Sioux used to say, “Take courage, the earth is all that lasts.”
— Jim Harrison, Off to the Side. A Memoir