“ The hand of man generally improves a landscape. The earth has been given to him, and his presence in Eden is natural; he gives life and spirit to the garden. It is only when he endeavors to rise above his true part of laborer and husbandman, when he assumes the character of creator, and piles you up hills, pumps you up a river, scatters stones, or sprinkles cascades, that he is ape to fail.
Susan Fenimore Cooper, 1851
This is a more complete quotation, found after some research. I did think that the original half-quote—when set next to paintings of ancient cliffs and evergreens, hung inside an institution of glass, concrete, and what have you—was a bit ironic. It’s much different when you include the next sentence, isn’t it?
