Leo Tolstoy skrev insiktsfullt om behovet av en koppling till naturen för att människan ska vara lycklig.
Mitt bästa råd, mina barn, av alla mina många råd är att hitta ett sätt att vara i och leva i naturen så mycket som möjligt. Egentligen ska ni söka er bort från staden, hitta ett boende och liv på landet, men kan ni inte det så försök hitta intresse och hobbies som gör att ni ibland kan landa helt och fullt därute.
“For what, according to the general estimate, are the principal conditions of earthly happiness? One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between man and nature shall not be severed, that is, that he shall be able to see the sky above him, and that he shall be able to enjoy the sunshine, the pure air, the fields with their verdure, their multitudinous life. Men have always regarded it as a great unhappiness to be deprived of all these things. But what is the condition of those men who live according to the doctrine of the world? The greater their success in practicing the doctrine of the world, the more they are deprived of these conditions of happiness. The greater their worldly success, the less they are able to enjoy the light of the sun, the freshness of the fields and woods, and all the delights of country life…These people, surrounded by artificial light instead of sunshine, look only upon fabrics of tapestry and stone and wood fashioned by the hand of man; the roar of machinery, the roll of vehicles, the thunder of cannon, the sound of musical instruments, are always in their ears; they breathe an atmosphere heavy with distilled perfumes and tobacco smoke…Wherever they go, they are like so many captives shut out from the conditions of happiness. As prisoners sometimes console themselves with a blade of grass that forces its way through the pavement of their prison yard…”