# Quote — Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses

> The Dutch carried vanilla to Indonesia, and the British to India. “Tincture of vanilla” didn’t appear in the United States until the 1800s, but when it did, it appealed to the American impatience and aversion to fuss, that sprint through life whose byword is convenience. Europeans use the vanilla bean, luxuriating in its textures, tastes, and aromas, but we preferred it reduced and already bottled. By the nineteenth century, demand flourished, vanilla became synthesized, and the world floated on a mantle of cheap flavoring.

- Author: [Diane Ackerman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman.md)
- Book: [A Natural History of the Senses](https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses.md)
- Page: 160
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Diane_Ackerman#A_Natural_History_of_the_Senses_(1990)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/the-dutch-carried

## More from this book

> 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.

p. 304 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/not-everything-we-feel.md)

> 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.

p. 305 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/so-much-of-our.md)

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

p. 309 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/it-began-in-mystery.md)