{
  "type": "quote",
  "site": {
    "name": "Leafy Quotes",
    "language": "en",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com"
  },
  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/consciousness-the-great",
  "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/consciousness-the-great.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/consciousness-the-great.md",
  "id": "57c4dd29-54ae-4420-8ec7-102405ab545c",
  "slug": "consciousness-the-great",
  "text": "Consciousness, the great poem of matter, seems so unlikely, so impossible, and yet here we are with our loneliness and our giant dreams.",
  "language": "en",
  "author": {
    "name": "Diane Ackerman",
    "slug": "diane-ackerman",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman"
  },
  "book": {
    "title": "A Natural History of the Senses",
    "slug": "a-natural-history-of-the-senses",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses"
  },
  "character": null,
  "chapter": null,
  "chapter_parent": null,
  "page": 130,
  "verified": false,
  "original": null,
  "other_languages": [],
  "topics": [
    {
      "name": "loneliness",
      "slug": "loneliness",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness"
    },
    {
      "name": "dreams and aspirations",
      "slug": "dreams-and-aspirations",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dreams-and-aspirations"
    }
  ],
  "source": {
    "name": "Wikiquote",
    "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Diane_Ackerman#A_Natural_History_of_the_Senses_(1990)",
    "license": {
      "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
      "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
    }
  },
  "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:34",
  "more_from_book": [
    {
      "id": "dfd2f6bc-a4bf-435c-a3a0-21766a140857",
      "slug": "not-everything-we-feel",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/not-everything-we-feel",
      "text": "Not everything we feel is felt powerfully enough to send a message to the brain; the rest of the sensations just wash over us, telling us nothing. Much is lost in translation, or is censored, and in any case our nerves don’t all fire at once. Some of them remain silent while others respond. This makes our version of the world somewhat simplistic, given how complex the world is. The body’s quest isn’t for truth, it’s for survival.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 304,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "the senses",
          "slug": "the-senses",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-senses"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Diane_Ackerman#A_Natural_History_of_the_Senses_(1990)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:35"
    },
    {
      "id": "a314fe13-14e3-432c-ad9b-e73ff3b6bc29",
      "slug": "so-much-of-our",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/so-much-of-our",
      "text": "So much of our life passes in a comfortable blur. Living on the senses requires an easily triggered sense of marvel, a little extra energy, and most people are lazy about life. Life is something that happens to them while they wait for death.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 305,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "life",
          "slug": "life",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life"
        },
        {
          "name": "the senses",
          "slug": "the-senses",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-senses"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Diane_Ackerman#A_Natural_History_of_the_Senses_(1990)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:35"
    },
    {
      "id": "19a6f6bc-cf83-4784-bb96-c9d71076b4a6",
      "slug": "it-began-in-mystery",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/it-began-in-mystery",
      "text": "It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 309,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "life",
          "slug": "life",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life"
        },
        {
          "name": "secrets",
          "slug": "secrets",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/secrets"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Diane_Ackerman#A_Natural_History_of_the_Senses_(1990)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:35"
    }
  ]
}