“When some people look at a shrimp they think, "Hmm. Delicious." When I look at a shrimp I think, "You're a miracle, absolutely incredible. Your ancestors have gone back hundreds of millions of years." And to develop a thing as simple as a shrimp cocktail, you have to calculate the hundreds of millions of years that have preceded that moment where you're sitting there with your sauce and fork poised.” PeopleThinkingYearsLooksMomentsSimpleMillionsGoneSittingMiracleIncrediblesThat MomentAncestorDeliciousSauceCocktailsForksHmmShrimp Author:Sylvia Earle
“Rather than be afraid of evolution and try to stifle inquiry, people should revel in the joys of knowing and find a serenity and a joy in being a part the rest of life on Earth. Not apart from it, but a part of it.” PeopleShouldTryingEarthJoyKnowingEvolutionSerenityInquiryRest Of Life Author:Sylvia Earle
“People still do not understand that a live fish is more valuable than a dead one, and that destructive fishing techniques are taking a wrecking ball to biodiversity.” PeopleStillsBallsFishesValuableTechniqueDestructiveFishingBiodiversity Author:Sylvia Earle
“People I know who succeed don't mind working. Those who are competent seem to like doing things well -- not stopping because they haven't accomplished what they wanted to on the first go-round. They're willing to do it twenty times, if necessary. There's an illusion that the good people can easily do something, and it's not necessarily true. They're just determined to do it right. I was impressed by hearing one of the women at Radcliffe talk about writing a poem, how many revisions a single poem sometimes has to go through -- fifty or sixty revisions to come out with a poem sixteen lines long.” PeopleIfsKnowsWritingMindFirstsWellsLongSometimesSeemsWantedLinesHavensWillingSucceedIllusionTwentiesRoundsHearingDeterminedAccomplishedFiftyGood PeopleSixtyImpressedStoppingCompetentSixteenRevision Author:Sylvia Earle
“It's baffling why the issues relating to climate change - [which] have far more obvious and tangible and much more clear-cut evidence about the cause - have been slower for people to accept as a given.” PeopleHas BeensGivenCausesAcceptingIssuesClearCuttingEvidenceClimateClimate ChangeObviousTangible Author:Sylvia Earle
“There's a vested interest in trying to keep people smoking cigarettes.” PeopleTryingInterestSmokingCigaretteVested InterestsSmoking Cigarettes Author:Sylvia Earle
“We still have the illusion that the ocean will recover. That even if we do have to lose sharks, people don't understand why this matters. The evidence is in front of us, and we fail to take it in and say, "Now I get it. Now I understand."” PeopleIfsStillsMatterLosesFailingFrontsOceanIllusionEvidenceSharks Author:Sylvia Earle
“It isn't too late to shift from the swift, sharp decline of ocean systems in recent decades to an era of steady recovery. There is time, and there is a growing awareness, which is the best way to counter indifference. People who know might care.” PeopleKnowsWayMightCareGrowingAwarenessOceanLateDecadesBest WayRecoveryErasIndifferenceToo LateSteadyDecline Author:Sylvia Earle
“People ask: Why should I care about the ocean? Because the ocean is the cornerstone of earth's life support system, it shapes climate and weather. It holds most of life on earth. 97% of earth's water is there. It's the blue heart of the planet - we should take care of our heart. It's what makes life possible for us. We still have a really good chance to make things better than they are. They won't get better unless we take the action and inspire others to do the same thing. No one is without power. Everybody has the capacity to do something.” PeopleShouldHeartStillsCareActionEarthAsksWaterChanceSupportSeaInspirePlanetsShapesOceanCapacityBlueClimateTake CareWeatherGet BetterShould II CareCornerstonesInspire OthersGood ChanceSupport SystemsSea WaterOcean Conservation Author:Sylvia Earle
“I've had the joy of spending thousands of hours under the sea. I wish I could take people along to see what I see, and to know what I know.” PeopleKnowsJoyWishHoursSeaSpending Author:Sylvia Earle
“When I write a scientific treatise, I might reach 100 people. When the 'National Geographic' covers a project, it communicates about plants and fish and underwater technology to more than 10 million people.” PeopleWritingMightMillionsTechnologyProjectsPlantFishesCommunicateUnderwaterNational Geographic Author:Sylvia Earle
“Santa Monica Bay is less polluted today than when I first moved to the area in the 1970s, because actions have been taken to avoid putting some of the noxious materials into the sea. I think people are more aware than they once were, the air is cleaner, water generally is, in spite of the fact that there are more people.” PeopleThinkingFirstsHas BeensFactsTodayActionWaterTakenAirSeaMaterialsAreasMovedSpiteSantaCleanersMonicaSanta Monica Author:Sylvia Earle
“The concept of 'peak oil' has penetrated the hearts and minds of people concerned about energy for the future. 'Peak fish' occurred around the end of the 1980s.” PeopleMindHeartEndsEnergyConceptsConcernedFishesOilHeart And MindPeak Oil Author:Sylvia Earle
“The most important thing for people to know about the governance of the Arctic is that we have a chance now to act to maintain the integrity of the system or to lose it. To lose it means that we will dismember the vital systems that make the Arctic work. It's not just a cost to the people who live there. It's a cost to all people everywhere.” PeopleKnowsMeanImportantLosesChanceIntegrityCostImportant ThingsWorking ItGovernanceArctic Author:Sylvia Earle
“When I first ventured into the Gulf of Mexico in the 1950s, the sea appeared to be a blue infinity too large, too wild to be harmed by anything that people could do.” PeopleFirstsSeaBlueInfinityMexicoGulf Of Mexico Author:Sylvia Earle
