Skip to content

It is no longer possible to conceive of any organism—humans included—as distinct from the microbial communities they share a body with.

— Merlin Sheldrake Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures (2020)

Another quote →

More quotes by Merlin Sheldrake

Fermentation is domesticated decomposition—rot rehoused.

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures (2020)

Tricked out of our expectations, we fall back on our senses. What’s astonishing is the gulf between what we expect to find and what we find when we actually look.

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures (2020)

The more of their surroundings that hyphae can touch, the more they can consume. The difference between animals and fungi is simple: Animals put food in their bodies, whereas fungi put their bodies in the food.

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures (2020)

The impact of fungal diseases is increasing across the world: Unsustainable agricultural practices reduce the ability of plants to form relationships with the beneficial fungi on which they depend. The widespread use of antifungal chemicals has led to an unprecedented rise in new fungal superbugs that threaten both human and plant health.

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures (2020)

... fungi are a kingdom of life, which is as broad a category of animals or plants. But they are a kingdom of life which has not had a kingdom's worth of attention.

All Merlin Sheldrake quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Merlin Sheldrake (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.