Quotessence
Home / Authors / Arne Næss

Arne Næss Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllEcologyBlessingCompassionCompetitionDeep EcologyEconomic GrowthEnvironmental EthicsEnvironmental IssuesEthicsExpedition

Famous Arne Næss Quotes

“Quality of life is here considered to be something incompatible with artificial, material standards above that necessary for the satisfaction of fundamental needs, and secondly, that ecological considerations are to be regarded as preconditions for life quality, therefore not outside human responsibility…The lifestyle of the majority should be changed so that the material standard of living in the Western countries becomes universalisable within this century. A consumption over and above that which everyone can attain within the foreseeable future cannot be justified.”

Quality Of LifeStandard Of Living
Book:Ecology, Community and Lifestyle
Create image

“GNP is therefore in a certain sense a value-neutral quantity: a measure of activity, not of activity of any kind of value. A first argument against continued growth is just this. The GNP does not give any guarantee of meaningfulness of that which is created. Growth in GNP does not imply any growth in access to intrinsic values and progress along the course of self-realization. Obviously any kind of economic growth which is not related to intrinsic values is neutral or detrimental. The measure of GNP is somehow related to the fierceness of activity in the society but this fierceness may very well have more to do with a lack of ability of the members of the society to engage in meaningful activity than a measure of something humanity should look upon with joy. There is no clear relation to life quality.”

Economic GrowthQuality Of Lifelife
Book:Ecology, Community and Lifestyle
Create image