What if species loneliness goes both ways? What if the other beings are lonely for us, too? Certainly, they long for our respect and gratitude. But perhaps they also long for our company, the way we can be brilliant and flawed, wise, ignorant, ugly, beautiful, and downright hilarious. Relatives accept you no matter what. What if they miss our stories? What if they are asking for help and [~~] we just put on our headphones and turn away? That's not what was agreed to at the beginning of the earth, or what is needed so much nearer to the end.

— Planet by Gavin Van Horn, John Hausdoerffer, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and 1 other (Kinship: Belonging In A World Of Relations, #1) (Page 117)