[at-l] "In wilderness.../wildness is the preservation...

[lthompson at hollins.edu (Lilla Thompson)]

>From _The abstract wild_ by Jack Turner:

 "Hanging from the ceiling of the visitors center at Point Reyes National Seashore are plaques bearing famous quotations about the value of the natural world. The one from Thoreau, from his essay "Walking", reads: "In Wilderness is the preservation of the World."  This, of course, is a mistake.  Henry didn't say "wilderness," he said "wildness."  But the mistake has become a clich?, suitable for T-shirts and bumper stickers.  I think this mistake is like a Freudian slip: it serves a repressive function, the avoidance of conflict, in this case the tension between wilderness as property and wildness as quality.  I also think we are all confused about this tension.  William Kittredge has been candid enough to admit that 'For decades I misread Thoreau.  I assumed he was saying wilderness...Maybe I didn't want Thoreau to have said wildness, I couldn't figure out what he meant.'  I agree."

I just cataloged this book today, and happened upon (okay, I looked it up; the chapter's titled "In wildness is the preservation of the world") the above.  Freaky. ;-)

-----Original Message-----
From: at-l-bounces@backcountry.net [mailto:at-l-bounces@backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Sloetoe
Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 10:11 AM
To: Jim Bullard; Bob C
Cc: AT-L@backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [at-l] Appalachian Mountain Top Removal

### Any error is all mine. HD is a big dude for me,
and I sometimes get tired of making attributions to
him, afeared that I sound like a one-note song. I
really *wanted* to be quoting someone besides him.

### FWIW, in the "wildness" versus "wilderness"
debate, I find more substance in the debate than in
the indivudual choices. Rock on, dudes.

semantoe
(hueresthetoe?)
altoe

--- Jim Bullard <jim.bullard@gmail.com> wrote:

> On 3/9/06, Bob C <ellen@clinic.net> wrote:
> > "Muir said "In Wilderness is the
> > > preservation of the world."
> >
> > Now that is interesting. Henry Thoreau said almost
> the same thing: "In wildness is the preservation of
> the world."
> >
> > Weary
> 
> I've found the quote both ways, "In wilderness is
> the preservation of
> the world" and "In wildness is the preservation of
> the world", both
> attributed to David Henry Thoreau. According to the
> photo book Elliot
> Porter produced the correct quote is "wildness" not
> "wilderness" but
> without rereading HDT (for which I haven't time
> right right now) I'm
> not sure who is misquoting. I am fairly sure that it
> isn't a quote
> from Muir unless perhaps he was the one who started
> the misquoting of
> HDT.
> 
> --
> Jim Bullard
> http://www.jimbullard.org
> http://hiking.jimbullard.org
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