Paul Sparks

“It is quite likely that you have never heard of water bears, also known as moss piglets or, more properly, as tardigrades. These tiny, eight-legged creatures, which rarely exceed one millimetre in length, are amongst the hardiest animals on Earth. They can survive a decade without water, being cooled to -273°C, heated to 150°C, crushed at 6,000 atmospheres pressure or exposed to 1,000 times more radiation than would kill a human. I have absolutely no idea why scientists have taken it upon themselves to try so hard to kill these innocuous little creatures.”
― Dave Goulson, A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm

“one honey fungus in Oregon covers almost four square miles and is thought to be nearly two and a half thousand years old.”
― Helen Macdonald, Vesper Flights

“It's not denial. I'm just selective about the reality I accept.”
― Bill Watterson

“For there’s an immense intellectual pleasure involved in making identifications, and each time you learn to recognise a new species of animal or plant, the natural world becomes a more complicated and remarkable place, pulling intricate variety out of a background blur of nameless grey and green.”
― Helen Macdonald, Vesper Flights