Pioneering Biologist and Writer Rachel Carson on Wonder, Parenting, and Why It Is More Important to Feel Than to Know

Wonder, and its expression in poetry and the arts, are among the most important things which seem to distinguish men from other animals, and intelligent and sensitive people from morons.

Some people are born into this world and never once question their narrative. To them, the world is not a causal nest of discoverable principles—it just is. However, the mindset of an explorer is altogether different—a wondrous thing. It wants. It craves. It is never satisfied until it encounters something different and never before seen.

We need to master the art, it seems to me, of asking questions which address the gravity of our situation yet which also create longing, which evoke a deep and rich sense of the wonders we can still create, rather than shutting it down or putting it into a deep sleep of complacency.