How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
And, if I try to keep my eye on quantum physics, if I try to keep up with astronomy and cosmology, and really believe it all, I might ultimately be able to make out the landscape of the universe. Why not? (8.35)
All the sciences are intertwined with each other and with art. Discovering the connection requires a constant commitment to seeing.
Quote #8
Muskrats are cautious. Many, many evenings I wait without seeing one. But sometimes it turns out that the focus of my wanting is misdirected […] For when the muskrats don't show, something else does. (11.16)
There's a book by the author Lawrence Weschler called Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees, and that's what Dillard's doing here. It doesn't matter if she sees a muskrat; it only matters that she sees, that she is open.