To find new things, take the path you took yesterday.
—John Burroughs (1837–1921) American Naturalist, Writer
An understanding of the Natural World and whats in it is a source of not only a great curiosity but great fulfillment.
—David Attenborough (b.1926) English Naturalist, Broadcaster
The civilized man has a moral obligation to be skeptical… Any man who for one moment abandons or suspends the questioning spirit has for that moment betrayed humanity.
—Bergen Evans
I do not know what compassionate conservative means. Does it mean cutting kids out of after school programs, Does it mean drilling in the arctic wildlife refuge? Does it mean sending kids to Iraq without body armor that is state of the art?
—John Kerry (b.1943) American Politician, Diplomat
The ecologization of politics requires us to acknowledge the priority of human values and makes ecology part of education at an early age, molding a new, modern approach to nature and, at the same time, giving back to man a sense of being part of nature. No moral improvement of society is possible without that
—Mikhail Gorbachev (b.1931) Soviet Head of State
Execution is really the critical part of a successful strategy. Getting it done, getting it done right, getting it done better than the next person is far more important than dreaming up new visions of the future. All of the great companies in the world out-execute their competitors day in and day out in the marketplace, in their manufacturing plants, in their logistics, in their inventory turns—in just about everything they do. Rarely do great companies have a proprietary position that insulates them from the constant hand-to-hand combat of competition.
—Louis V. Gerstner Jr. (b.1942) American Businessman
Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.
—Henry van Dyke Jr. (1852–1933) American Author, Educator, Clergyman
What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
And find that dark, too blooms and sings, and is traveled by dark feet, and dark wings.
—Wendell Berry (b.1934) American Poet, Novelist, Environmentalist
It is our task in our time and in our generation to hand down undiminished to those who come after us, as was handed down to us by those who went before, the natural wealth and beauty which is ours.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
It is unfair to blame man too fiercely for being pugnacious; he learned the habit from Nature.
—Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American Novelist, Essayist
The variety of life in nature can be compared to a vast library of unread books, and the plundering of nature is comparable to the random discarding of whole volumes without having opened them, and learned from them. Our critical dependence on the great variety of nature for the progress we have already made has been amply documented. Indifference to the loss of species is, in effect, indifference to the future, and therefore a shameful carelessness about our children.
—Peter Matthiessen (1927–2014) American Naturalist, Novelist
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, Inventor, Architect
Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
Every animal knows more than you do.
—American Indian Proverb
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that really matter.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
—Margaret Mead (1901–78) American Anthropologist, Social Psychologist
I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.
—Stewart Udall (1920–2010) American Politician, Government Official, Author
A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
When nature has work to be done, she creates a genius to do it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
What is the good of having a nice house without a decent planet to put it on?
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable – a most sacred right – a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Modern society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyle.
—Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) Polish Catholic Religious Leader
I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use our natural resources, but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or rob by wasteful use, the generations that come after us.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
—Barack Obama (b.1961) American Head of State, Academic, Politician, Author
Nothing exists for itself alone, but only in relation to other forms of life
—Charles Darwin (1809–82) English Naturalist
To waste and destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer