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Quote by David W. Orr

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The Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics, and the Environment in an Age of Terror

The Last Refuge delves into the complex relationship between national identity, political ideologies, and environmental issues amidst the backdrop of contemporary terrorism. It examines how these factors intertwine and influence each other in a world facing security challenges. more

Author

David W. Orr
David W. Orr

David W. Orr (b. 1944) is a prominent American environmental educator, author, and professor at Oberlin College. He is widely recognized as a pioneer in environmental education, focusing on ecological literacy, sustainability, and green campus design. Orr authored influential books such as 'Ecological Literacy' and 'Earth in Mind,' and led the creation of the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies at Oberlin, one of the greenest buildings globally. His work has significantly shaped environmental education, ecological design, and public policy. more

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“The language of commerce has been engineered to describe the overt purpose of a thing, but cannot encompass fringe benefits or peripheral pleasures. It weighs the obvious against what in its terms are incomprehensible. When I drive from here to there, speed, privacy, control, and safety are easy to claim. When I walk, what happens is more vague, more ambiguous-and in many circumstances much richer. I am out in the world. It's exercise, though not so quantifiably as on a treadmill in a gym with a digital readout.”

“The people who benefit from this state of affairs have been at pains to convince us that the agricultural practices and policies that have almost annihilated the farming population have greatly benefited the population of food consumers. But more and more consumers are now becoming aware that our supposed abundance of cheap and healthful food is to a considerable extent illusory.”

“A person who has been seduced by the consumer value system, whose identity is dissolved in an amalgam of the accouterments trappings of mass civilization, and who has no roots in the order of being, no sense of responsibility for anything higher than his own personal survival, is a demoralized person. The system depends on this demoralization, deepens it, is in fact a projection of it into society.”

“The real work of planet-saving will be small, humble, and humbling, and (insofar as it involves love) pleasing and rewarding. Its jobs will be too many to count, too many to report, too many to be publicly noticed or rewarded, too small to make anyone rich or famous.”

“There can be no solution to the challenge of climate change that is not global. But if we can come together in partnership, we can transform today's challenge into tomorrow's opportunity - an opportunity for green growth and sustainable prosperity... we also need a strong bottom-up push from academics and opinion-shapers such as you. Universities such as yours are founts of ideas and innovation. They are furnaces of innovation and entrepreneurship. So, send forth this word.”