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Quotation from The Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White
“it is a matter of wonder to find that Providence should bestow such a profusion of days, such a seeming waste of longevity, on a reptile that appears to relish it so little as to squander more than two-thirds of its existence in a joyless stupor”
The Natural History of Selborne, To Barrington, Letter L (1789 text)
White's famous comic reflection on the tortoise's long life spent mostly asleep joins wonder, piety and wit.
Citation: "it is a matter of wonder to find that Providence should bestow such a profusion of days, such a seeming waste of longevity, on a reptile that appears to relish it so little as to squander more than two-thirds of its existence in a joyless stupor" — Gilbert White, The Natural History of Selborne, To Barrington, Letter L (1789 text). (id the-natural-history-of-selborne-q6)
Portrait: White's Selborne 1813 title page (detail), Gilbert White, Public domain.
