“The old Indian teaching was that is is wrong to tear loose from its place on the earth anything that may be growing there. It may be cut off, but it should not be uprooted. The trees and the grass have spirits. Whatever one of such growth may be destroyed by some good Indian, his act is done in sadness and with a prayer for forgiveness because of his necessities.” ShouldMayDoneEarthSpiritGrowthPrayerCuttingGrowingTreeSadnessTeachingTearsDestroyedIndianGrassNativeNative AmericanStewardshipNative AmericaNative American IndianGreat Native AmericanNative American Earth Author:Wooden Leg
“However destructive may be the policies of the government and the methods and products of the corporations, the root of the problem is always found to be found in private life. We must learn to see that every problem that concerns us as conservationists always leads straight to the question of how we live. The world is being destroyed, no doubt about it, by the greed of the rich and powerful. It is also being destroyed by popular demand.” WorldMayProblemGovernmentFoundPowerfulRichDoubtPolicyProductsDemandConcernRootsMethodGreedDestroyedCorporationsNo DoubtDestructiveConsumerismPrivate LifeOverconsumption Book:Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community: Eight Essays Source: Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community: Eight Essays
“The great wilds of our country, once held to be boundless and inexhaustible, are being rapidly invaded and overrun in every direction, and everything destructible in them is being destroyed. How far destruction may go it is not easy to guess. Every landscape, low and high, seems doomed to be trampled and harried. Even the sky is not safe from scath-blurred and blackened whole summers together with the smoke of fires that devour the woods.” MayCountryWholeSeemsTogetherEasyFireSkySafeSummerLowsDestructionEnvironmentalWoodsDestroyedOur CountrySmokeLandscapeDoomedBoundless Book:The Writings of John Muir: Steep trails Source: The Writings of John Muir: Steep trails
“Capitalism has destroyed our belief in any effective power but that of self interest backed by force. But even Capitalist cynicism will admit that however unconscionable we may be when our own interests are affected, we can be most indignantly virtuous at the expense of others.” MaySelfBeliefForceInterestCapitalismDestroyedExpensesAffectedCapitalistCynicismVirtuousSelf Interest Author:George Bernard Shaw