In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
The marsh, to him who enters it in a receptive mood, holds, besides mosquitoes and stagnation, melody, the mystery of unknown waters, and the sweetness of Nature undisturbed by man.
—William Beebe (1877–1962) American Biologist, Explorer
In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
That which is now a horse, even with a thought The rack dislimms, and makes it indistinct As water is in water
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Water is H2O, hydrogen two parts, oxygen one, but there is also a third thing, that makes water and nobody knows what that is.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Critic
There’s always a period of curious fear between the first sweet-smelling breeze and the time when the rain comes cracking down.
—Don DeLillo (b.1936) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Everything changes but change itself. Everything flows and nothing remains the same…You cannot step twice into the same river, for other waters and yet others go flowing ever on.
—Heraclitus (535BCE–475BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
So let man consider of what he was created; he was created of gushing water issuing between the loins and the breast-bones.
—The Holy Quran Sacred Scripture of Islam
Water flows from high in the mountains
Water runs deep in the Earth
Miraculously, water comes to us,
And sustains all life.
—Thich Nhat Hanh (1926–2022) Vietnamese Buddhist Leader, Teacher, Peace Activist
The sky broke like an egg into full sunset and the water caught fire.
—Pamela Hansford Johnson (1912–81) British Novelist, Playwright, Critic
Though inland far we be,
Our souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850) English Poet
For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),
It’s always our self we find in the sea.
—e. e. cummings (1894–1962) American Poet, Writer, Painter
The solution to our water problems is more rain.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
A nation that fails to plan intelligently for the development and protection of its precious waters will be condemned to wither because of its shortsightedness. The hard lessons of history are clear, written on the deserted sands and ruins of once proud civilizations
—Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–73) American Head of State, Political leader
A man who drinks only water has a secret to hide from his fellow men
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.
—Robert Henri (1865–1929) American Painter, Teacher
A man from the west will fight over three things: water, women and gold, and usually in that order.
—Barry Goldwater (1909–98) American Politician, Businessperson, Representative
When you drink the water, remember the spring.
—Chinese Proverb
Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.
—Jacques Cousteau (1910–97) French Oceanographer, Documentary Director
Still falls the rain—dark as the world of man, black as our loss—blind as the nineteen hundred and forty nails upon the Cross.
—Edith Sitwell (1887–1964) English Poet, Critic
Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
Stones are hollowed out by the constant dropping of water.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
Water is the most precious, limited natural resource we have in this country…But because water belongs to no one – except the people – special interests, including government polluters, use it as their private sewers
—Ralph Nader (b.1934) American Lawyer, Consumer Activist
The stone in the water knows nothing of the hill which lies parched in the sun.
—African Proverb
Water has no taste, no color, no odor; it cannot be defined, art relished while ever mysterious. Not necessary to life, but rather life itself. It fills us with a gratification that exceeds the delight of the senses.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator
We must treat water as if it were the most precious thing in the world, the most valuable natural resource. Be economical with water! Don’t waste it! We still have time to do something about this problem before it is too late.
—Mikhail Gorbachev (1931–2022) Soviet Head of State
The highest good is like water. Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive. It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
A waster of water is a waster of better.
—Irish Proverb
If you could tomorrow morning make water clean in the world, you would have done, in one fell swoop, the best thing you could have done for improving human health by improving environmental quality.
—William C. Clark (b.1948) American Sustainability Scientist
When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still to come.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Architect
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