Quotessence
Home / Authors / Paul Hawken
Paul Hawken

Paul Hawken Quotes

Environmentalist

Filter quotes by topic

AllEnvironmentIfsSciencePeopleEarthEnvironmentalWayWorldResourcesCompanyNaturalNeedsOrderBusinessCostEconomicEconomyGenerationsHumansKnows

Famous Paul Hawken Quotes

“Sustainability is an economic state where the demands placed upon the environment by people and commerce can be met without reducing the capacity of the environment to provide for future generations. It can also be expressed in the simple terms of an economic golden rule for the restorative economy: Leave the world better than you found it, take no more than you need, try not to harm life or the environment, make amends if you do.”

PeopleIfsWorldNeedsTryingStatesFoundTermSimpleEconomyEnvironmentGenerationsEconomicMetsDemandCapacityEnvironmentalHarmGoldenSustainabilityCommerceFuture GenerationReducingBetter Than YouGolden RuleAmends
Author:Paul Hawken
Create image

“We can just as easily have an economy that is based on healing the future instead of stealing it. We can either create assets for the future or take the assets of the future. One is called restoration and the other exploitation. And whenever we exploit the earth we exploit people and cause untold suffering. Working for the earth is not a way to get rich, it is a way to be rich.”

PeopleWayEarthSufferingCausesHealingEconomyRichEnvironmentalStealingAssetsSustainabilityExploitationExploitsRestorationGet Rich
Author:Paul Hawken
Create image

“When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse.”

PeopleIfsWorldLooksEarthOrderJusticeAnswersPoorGraceHavensThis WorldWillingDespairHappeningsOrdinaryOptimisticDataOddsOrdinary PeoplePulsePessimisticSemblance
Author:Paul Hawken
Create image

“Healing the wounds of the earth and its people does not require saintliness or a political party, only gumption and persistence. It is not a liberal or conservative activity; it is a sacred act.”

PeopleDoeEarthPoliticalPartyHealingActivitySacredClimate ChangeConservativeWoundsPersistencePolitical PartiesGumption
Book:Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History Is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beau ty to the World
Create image

“How is it that we have created an economic system that tells us it is cheaper to destroy the earth and exhaust its people than to nurture them both? Is it rational to have an pricing system which discounts the future and sells off the past? How did we create an economic system that confused capital liquidation with income?”

PeopleEarthPastEconomicSellsClimate ChangeIncomeRationalConfusedNurtureCheaperEconomic SystemsDiscountsPricing
Book:Natural Capitalism: The Next Industrial Revolution
Create image

“If you look at the science that describes what is happening on earth today and aren't pessimistic, you don’t have the correct data. If you meet the people in this unnamed movement and aren't optimistic, you haven’t got a heart.”

PeopleIfsLooksHeartTodayEarthHavensMovementHappeningsOptimisticDataPessimistic
Book:Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History Is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beau ty to the World
Create image

“The problems to be faced are vast and complex, but come down to this: 6.6 billion people are breeding exponentially. The process of fulfilling their wants and needs is stripping earth of its biotic capacity to produce life; a climactic burst of consumption by a single species is overwhelming the skies, earth, waters, and fauna.”

PeopleWantNeedsProblemEarthProcessWaterSkyProduceCapacitySpeciesComplexesBillionsOverwhelmingConsumptionFulfillingBreedingStrippingWants And Needs
Author:Paul Hawken
Create image

“My advice for people is to love the world they are in, in whatever way makes sense to them. It may be a devotional practice, it may be song or poetry, it may be by gardening, it may be as an activist, scientist, or community leader. The path to restoration extends from our heart to the heart of sentient beings, and that path will be different for every person.”

PeopleWorldWayHeartMayPersonsDifferentSongCommunityLeaderPracticePathAdviceScientistMake SenseActivistGardeningRestorationDevotionalSentient Beings
Author:Paul Hawken
Create image