William Penn (24 October [O.S. 14 October] 1644 – 10 August [O.S. 30 July 1718] 1718) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). He writes beautifully of how our connection to the natural world is removed when nature herself is all but eliminated in the form of the city.
“The country life is to be preferred, for there we see the works of God; but in cities, little else but the works of men; and the one makes a better subject for our contemplation than the other……
The country is both the philosopher’s garden and library, in which he reads and contemplates the power, wisdom and goodness of God”
