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Environmentalism Quotes

Browse 335 quotes about Environmentalism.

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Environmentalism Quotes

“Consciousness I proved unable to change with the changing realities of America. Today it still sees America as if it were a world of small towns and simple virtues. Invention and machinery and production are the equivalent of progress; material success ids the road to happiness, nature is beautiful but must be conquered and put to use. Competition is the law of nature and man; life is a harsh pursuit of individual self-interest. Consciousness I believes that the American dream is still possible, and that success is determined by character, morality, hard work, and self-denial. It does not accept that organizations predominate individuals in American life, or that social problems are due to something other than bad character, or that the possibility of individual success, based on ability and enterprise is largely out of date.”

EnvironmentalismTeachingsPolitics Of The United StatesGreening Of America
Book:The Greening Of America. How The Youth Revolution
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“A river can't forgive because it is only capable, in the first place, of love. A river loves the dumpers, the polluters, the slayers, the nest-thieves, the bird-killers, the dammers, the water-stealers. A river loves even the clear-cutters. But I can forgive. I am trying to be like the river.”

LoveForgivenessRiversPollutionEnvironmentalismRiverRiver QuotesClear Cutting
Book:Drifting into Darien: A Personal and Natural History of the Altamaha River
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“The Great Activist (Sonnet) The world doesn't need another climate summit, the world needs a climate summon, and not from some fair-weather activist that jumps from one trend to another, like privileged white women hop from pseudoscience to pseudoscience - the world needs a climate summon from the commoners of the world, everyday ordinary people with a mundane job and a mundane life - when these people sense the immediate emergency that the planet faces, then no amount of performative policy will be required anymore, because there is no greater environmental stabilizer than commoners jolted to duty - the greatest activist is the conscientious commoner.”

Climate ChangeCivil RightsGlobal WarmingEnvironmentalismCivic DutyClimate CrisisClimate ActionClimate EmergencyClimate ActivistClimate Activism
Book:With Love From A Blue Rock
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“Who has made the decision that sets in motion these chains of poisonings, this ever-widening wave of death that spreads out, like ripples when a pebble is dropped into a still pond? Who has placed in one pan of the scales the leaves that might have been eaten by the beetles and in the other the pitiful heaps of many-hued feathers, the lifeless remains of the birds that fell before the unselective bludgeon of insecticidal poisons? Who has decided - who has the right to decide - for the countless legions of people who were not consulted that the supreme value is a world without insects, even though it be also a sterile world ungraced by the curving wing of a bird in flight? The decision is that of the authoritarian temporarily entrusted with power; he has made it during a moment of inattention by millions to whom beauty and the ordered world of nature still have a meaning that is deep and imperative.”

EnvironmentalismInsecticides
Book:Silent Spring
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“The war for the Narmada valley is not just some exotic tribal war, or a remote rural war or even an exclusively Indian war. Its a war for the rivers and the mountains and the forests of the world. All sorts of warriors from all over the world, anyone who wishes to enlist, will be honored and welcomed. Every kind of warrior will be needed. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, judges, journalists, students, sportsmen, painters, actors, singers, lovers . . . The borders are open, folks! Come on in.”

LoveInspirationalWomenNatureUnityWarriorEnvironmentalismNew World OrderNarmada ValleyThird World Feminism
Book:The cost of living
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“All of them, the planets, are alive, and we can easily be ascertained of this if we pay close attention to our mother planet, Earth. If we listen closely, we can hear her breathe - it is the wind that blows around us. If we pay heed, we can hear her speak to us - it is the leaves that rustle in forests, for the trees are deeply connected with Earth's mind through their roots...”

EarthNatureNature QuotesEnvironmentalismNature S BeautyEarth QuotesEnvironment Protection
Book:Earth-chan and Friends
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“Another glorious feature of many modern science museums is a movie theater showing IMAX or OMNIMAX films. In some cases the screen is ten stories tall and wraps around you. The Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museu, the popular museum on Earth, has premiered in its Langley Theater some of the best of these films. 'To Fly' brings a catch to my throat even after five or six viewings. I've seen religious leaders of many denominations witness 'Blue Planet' and be converted on the spot to the need to protect the Earth's environment”

ScienceEnvironmentConservationEnvironmentalismImaxOmnimaxScience Museums
Book:The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
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“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”

EarthScienceConservationEnvironmentalism
Author:Carl Sagan
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“Ethics that focus on human interactions, morals that focus on humanity's relationship to a Creator, fall short of these things we've learned. They fail to encompass the big take-home message, so far, of a century and a half of biology and ecology: life is- more than anything else- a process; it creates, and depends on, relationships among energy, land, water, air, time and various living things. It's not just about human-to-human interaction; it's not just about spiritual interaction. It's about all interaction. We're bound with the rest of life in a network, a network including not just all living things but the energy and nonliving matter that flows through the living, making and keeping all of us alive as we make it alive. We can keep debating ideologies and sending entreaties toward heaven. But unless we embrace the fuller reality we're in- and reality's implications- we'll face big problems.”

ScienceNatureEcologyEnvironmentalism
Book:The View from Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World
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“So: global warming is the ultimate problem of oil companies because oil causes it, and it's the ultimate problem for government haters because without government intervention, you can't solve it. Those twin existential threats, to cash and to worldview, meant that there was never any shortage of resources for the task of denying climate change.”

PoliticsClimate ChangeEnvironmentalismClimate CrisisClimate Change DenialClimate Science
Book:Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?
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“Many conscientious environmentalists are repelled by the word "abundance," automatically associating it with irresponsible consumerism and plundering of Earth's resources. In the context of grassroots frustration, insensitive enthusing about the potential for energy abundance usually elicits an annoyed retort. "We have to conserve." The authors believe the human family also has to _choose_. The people we speak with at the recycling depot or organic juice bar are for the most part not looking at the _difference_ between harmony-with-nature technologies and exploitative practices such as mountaintop coal mining. "Destructive" was yesterday's technology of choice. As a result, the words "science and technology" are repugnant to many of the people who passionately care about health, peace, justice and the biosphere. Usually these acquaintances haven't heard about the variety of constructive yet powerful clean energy technologies that have the potential to gradually replace oil and nuclear industries if allowed. Wastewater-into-energy technologies could clean up waterways and other variations solve the problem of polluting feedlots and landfills.”

WorldLifeScienceEnergyNatureEnvironmentEcologyElectricityEnvironmentalismPlanet
Book:Breakthrough Power: How Quantum-Leap New Energy Inventions Can Transform Our World
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“I have been impressed by the realization that a few men have virtually 'decided' what experiences count and even exist in the world. The language of Western science--the reigning construct of male hegemony--precludes the ability to express the experiential realities it talks about. Virtually all the actual experiences of this world, expressed through the manifest and mysterious characteristics of all the different beings, are unrepresented in the stainless steel edicts of experts. Where is the voice of the voiceless in the scientific literature, including the literature of environmental ethics?”

ScienceFeminismAnimal RightsEnvironmentalism
Author:Karen Davis
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“All these beefy Caucasians with guns. Get enough of them together,looking for the America they always believed they'd grow up in, and they glom together like overcooked rice, form integral, starchy little units. With their power tools, portable generators, weapons, four-wheel-drive vehicles, and personal computers, they are like beavers hyped up on crystal meth, manic engineers without a blueprint, chewing through the wilderness, building things and abandoning them, altering the flow of mighty rivers and then moving on because the place ain't what it used to be. The byproduct of the lifestyle is polluted rivers, greenhouse effect, spouse abuse, televangelists, and serial killers. But as long as you have that four-wheel-drive vehicle and can keep driving north, you can sustain it, keep moving just quickly enough to stay one step ahead of your own waste stream. In twenty years, ten million white people will converge on the north pole and park their bagos there. The low-grade waste heat of their thermodynamically intense lifestyle will turn the crystalline icescape pliable and treacherous. It will melt a hole through the polar icecap, and all that metal will sink to the bottom, sucking the biomass down with it.”

EnvironmentalismUrban Sprawl
Book:Snow Crash
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“Look, the basic facts are obvious," he said. "You can't keep growing forever on a finite planet---there are limits." But the exact relations among economic growth, environmental destruction, and planetary limits no longer seemed so obvious to me.”

ScienceEconomic GrowthEnvironmentalism
Book:The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World
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“We rich nations, for that is what we are, have an obligation not only to the poor nations, but to all the grandchildren of the world, rich and poor. We have not inherited this earth from our parents to do with it what we will. We have borrowed it from our children and we must be careful to use it in their interests as well as our own. Anyone who fails to recognise the basic validity of the proposition put in different ways by increasing numbers of writers, from Malthus to The Club of Rome, is either ignorant, a fool, or evil.”

InspirationalEarthScienceConservationEnvironmentalism
Author:Moss Cass
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“Since that night a couple of weeks ago when Valerie had stayed with him, they had barely separated. The stories of Rabbit’s Revenge droned on and on talking of the impending doom of the planet and the international scientific community’s various attempts to determine a course of action to prevent it. For Jeremy, however, each passing day left him feeling more and more certain he was missing something. It was just a nagging little sensation that lingered like an itch on the back of his neck. With Valerie now firmly implanted in his life, it was a wonder he even thought about it at all, but during his quiet moments and when he awoke in the mornings or even during his more intense workouts, the sensation crept back up on him. It seemed to center around the experience of having his life pass before his eyes, but beyond that it was just nebulous. And annoying.”

HurtDramaSurvivalTenseEnvironmentalismColoradoLonersAction FictionMan Made DisastersSuspense Thrillers
Book:The Mayan Legacy
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“The human body when kept in an indoor environment of low lux light will not realize that it is daytime, as it cannot sense the increasing levels of daylight that the genetics are accustomed to. As such, by late morning your body may start sending a signal for you to sleep!”

HumansBodyLightHumanitySleepLevelsMorningEnvironmentHuman NatureHumanIncreaseEnvironmentalSensesSignalsAccustomedHumanity And SocietyLight And DarknessEnvironmentalismGeneticsDaylightSleepingHuman DevelopmentSenseSleepyHuman BeingBody LanguageDaytimeOutdoorsBody Of ChristLevelLightsBody Mind SpiritEnvironmental DegradationMorning SunMorningsLuxMorning PersonBody And MindMorning QuoteOutdoorIndoorSignalSendIndoorsSendingIncreasingSenses Of The SoulIndoor PersonMorning PeopleSignaling The DaySleep Spells
Book:Electrical Forensics
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“Pick a leader who will make their citizens proud. One who will stir the hearts of the people, so that the sons and daughters of a given nation strive to emulate their leader's greatness. Only then will a nation be truly great, when a leader inspires and produces citizens worthy of becoming future leaders, honorable decision makers and peacemakers. And in these times, a great leader must be extremely brave. Their leadership must be steered only by their conscience, not a bribe.”

PeopleLoveHumansWarCountryCharacterWisdomHandsGovernmentTruthSchoolJobsLawHateHumanityPoliticsStrongFearPeaceUnderstandingPresidentLeadershipJusticeFreedomMoneyRaceEducationLeaderDarknessEnvironmentTeacherBloodTeamSocietyMankindHonestSecurityGreatnessIgnoranceInspireBooksMoralityIntegrityRepublicanSpeechDiversityWeaponsLosingRacismConscienceCapitalismCriticismDestructionHatredDoctorsLiesVoteBraveryIntelligentElectionBraveUnityDemocratEnvironmentalChaosLibraryGreedTerrorEqualityCorruptionHumbleProtectionSpendingOilImprovementToleranceDiscriminationEmploymentPeacefulAdministrationHealth CareBridgesCorporationsHuman LifePresidentialHypocrisyVotingDivisionLeadersDividesJobStabilityCensorshipHuman ConditionFairnessTolerateFreedom Of SpeechHonorableConservationPreservationLieDiplomacyBankingIncentivesSegregationSecrecyTeachersFundingBankersPolitical ScienceTransparencyDissentGreat LeaderUnderstandNationEnvironmentalismWordElectionsHeartsMonetaryLeadSchoolsCorruptTruthfulnessDoctorScrutinyLeadership CharacteristicsImmoralityDiplomaticBig BusinessLibrariesEnvironmentalistConfidentCommon ManIntellectualismBribeFamiliesGuidePublicGood LeaderLeadership TraitsPeacemakerImmaturityBipartisanGovernment CorruptionGreat LeadershipBest LeaderSlyWallsPharmaceuticalReligious ToleranceUnitingBanking SystemBailFairLawlessnessCitizenConvergenceBanksFuture LeadersCompaniesStreetVoterCriticForeign RelationsHomesIdentifyFarmerAirlinesUniteDivideMake America Great AgainPeacemakersBig PharmaEducatorsWe The PeopleBankerCensorBuild BridgesSilencing DissentDiscriminatePeacekeeperPicking SidesFor The PeopleLobbyistPharmaCriticsmGreat NationHeart DrivenBail OutFurtureIndentifiesMonetary ProfitOil TycoonPick A LeaderSelectingServes The PeopleUnitesHonest BrokerMan On The StreetMoney DrivenMortageMortagesMultinationalStreet LevelConfident LeaderDecisionmakersDecison MakersEthnic ToleranceRace Tolerance
Book:Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
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“Environmentalists like to say that defeats are permanent, victories temporary. Extinction, like death, is forever, but protection needs to be maintained. But now, in a world where restoration ecology is becoming increasingly important, it turns out that even defeats aren't always permanent. Across the United States and Europe, dams have been removed, wetlands and rivers restored, once-vanished native species reintroduced, endangered species regenerated.”

EnvironmentSpeciesActivismNativeEcologyRestorationEnvironmentalismEndangered
Book:Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities
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“Advocacy is a natural process that comes from within. It emerges when someone gets to the point where they are tired of witnessing the injustice imposed upon others and decide to do something about it. It is not something you can buy or pay for. It comes from the heart. That is where the fiercest warriors come from.”

ActivismMental Health QuotesEnvironmentalismDisability QuotesAdvocateActivism QuotesAdvocacy QuotesEnvironmental QuotesAnimal Rights QuoteBee Health Advocate
Author:June Stoyer
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“The question of whether we wanted all this waste and pollution was never put up for a vote. No one has ever run for office on a platform of disposable clothing. Make no mistake: our votes matter. But changing the way things are won’t happen through our votes alone. How we spend our money matters, too.”

Climate ChangeActivismEnvironmentalismSpending Money
Book:Wallet Activism: How to Use Every Dollar You Spend, Earn, and Save as a Force for Change
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“Climate change means some bleak prospects for the decades ahead, but I don’t believe the appropriate response to that challenge is withdrawal, is surrender. I think you have to do everything you can to make the world accommodate dignified and flourishing life, rather than giving up early, before the fight has been lost or won, and acclimating yourself to a dreary future brought into being by others less concerned about climate pain. The fight is, definitively, not yet lost—in fact will never be lost, so long as we avoid extinction, because however warm the planet gets, it will always be the case that the decade that follows could contain more suffering or less.”

Climate ChangeActivismEnvironmentalism
Book:The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming
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“As I imagine the stink of the oil that the birds and their rescuers endured, I begin to think about the photograph differently. Because to act to save birds and other species from ruination caused by humans is not only a profound sense of engagement with our imagination but illustrates that human agency is also the dynamic of repair. And I know which version of humanity I prefer.”

ArtPhilosophyNatureActivismConservationEnvironmentalism
Book:Abundance: Nature in Recovery
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“Explaining the rise of MSNBC, the Republican strategist Stuart Stevens said: “I think there are a lot of people out there who are dramatically troubled by the direction of the country, and they would like to be reminded that: (A) they’re not alone, and (B) there’s an alternative”. But loneliness isn’t the problem; the direction of the country is. And being alone together is not an alternative direction, just as a cancer support group does not shrink a tumour. It’s probably true that viewers of MSNBC are sometimes inspired to give money to progressive candidates, and perhaps there’s someone out there whose politics were changed, rather that their loneliness assuaged, by Rachel Maddow. It’s certainly true that a hybrid car gets better mileage than a traditional gas car. But primarily, these things make us feel better. And it can be dangerous to feel better when things are not getting better. […] Too often, the feeling of making a difference doesn’t correspond to the difference being made – worse, an inflated sense of accomplishment can relieve the burden of doing what actually needs to be done. Do the children getting vaccines paid for by Bill Gates really care if he feels annoyed when he gives 46 percent of his vast wealth to charity? Do the children dying of preventable diseases really care if Jeff Bezos feels altruistic when he donates only 1.2 percent of his even vaster wealth? If you found yourself in the back of an ambulance, would you rather have a driver who loathes his job put performs it expertly or one who is passionate about his job but takes twice as long to get you to the hospital?”

ActivismEnvironmentalismProgressivism
Book:We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast
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“Let's stop making the same old mistakes. Here are a few, but I trust that you will silently add your own: Projecting messianic fantasies onto politicians. Thinking the market will fix it. Building a movement made up entirely of upper-middle-class white people and wondering why people of color don't want to join 'our movement.' Tearing each other to bloody shreds because it's easier to do that than go after the forces most responsible for this mess. These are social change clichés, and they are getting really boring. We don't have the right to demand perfection from each other. But we do have the right to expect progress. To demand evolution. So, let's make some new mistakes. Let's make new mistakes as we break through our silos and build the kind of beautifully diverse and justice-hungry movement that actually has a chance of winning - winning against the powerful interests that want us to keep failing.”

Social JusticeClimate ChangeActivismEnvironmentalismEquitable Movements
Book:On Fire: The Case for the Green New Deal
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