Nothing exists for itself alone, but only in relation to other forms of life
—Charles Darwin (1809–82) English Naturalist
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
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
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
To keep every cog and every wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.
—Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) American Ecologist, Conservationist
What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
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
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
When nature has work to be done, she creates a genius to do it.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
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
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
We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.
—Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) American Ecologist, Conservationist
We won’t have a society if we destroy the environment.
—Margaret Mead (1901–78) American Anthropologist, Social Psychologist
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
If the human race is to continue for another million years, we will have to boldly go where no one has gone before.
—Stephen Hawking (1942–2018) English Theoretical Physicist, Cosmologist, Academic
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
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 (1931–2022) Soviet Head of State
The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death.
—Rachel Carson (1907–64) American Naturalist, Science Writer
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
It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.
—Ansel Adams (1902–84) American Photographer
Only in the last moment of human history has the delusion arisen that people can flourish apart from the rest of the living world.
—E. O. Wilson (1929–2021) American Sociobiologist
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
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
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
What is the good of having a nice house without a decent planet to put it on?
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
The earth laughs in flowers.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
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
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
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