There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew. ~Marshall McLuhan, 1964
There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet.
-Brooke Medicine Eagle
Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,
For strip-mined mountain’s majesty above the asphalt plain.
America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.
-George Carlin
Man must feel the earth to know himself and recognize his values.... God made life simple. It is man who complicates it. ~Charles A. Lindbergh, Reader's Digest, July 1972
I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority. ~Elwyn Brooks White, Essays of E.B. White, 1977
A living planet is a much more complex metaphor for deity than just a bigger father with a bigger fist. If an omniscient, all-powerful Dad ignores your prayers, it's taken personally. Hear only silence long enough, and you start wondering about his power. His fairness. His very existence. But if a world mother doesn't reply, Her excuse is simple. She never claimed conceited omnipotence. She has countless others clinging to her apron strings, including myriad species unable to speak for themselves. To Her elder offspring She says - go raid the fridge. Go play outside. Go get a job. Or, better yet, lend me a hand. I have no time for idle whining. ~David Brin
I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise, what is there to defend?
-Robert Redford
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle, 1855
After a visit to the beach, it's hard to believe that we live in a material world. ~Pam Shaw
Humanity is on the march, earth itself is left behind. ~David Ehrenfeld, The Arrogance of Humanism, 1978
Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money. ~Cree Indian Proverb
We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.
-Albert Einstein
I enjoyed those quotes. They make me think...I especially like the one by David Brin. Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteMarshall McLuhan (your first quotee) is one of my heroes. See this Woody Allen post from 2006.
ReplyDeleteAlso, John of Hedgeland Tales has this apposite quote on his homepage:
"The Earth does not belong to man,
Man belongs to the Earth;
We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors,
We borrow it from our children;
Man did not weave the web of life,
He is merely a strand in it,
Whatever he does to the web,
He does to himself"
Chief Seattle 1780-1866
The outrageous Sir Tom Eagerly says:
ReplyDeleteI was once told that I was great conservationist you know, Kelly my boy.
Or it might have been conversationist. Either way, pretty natty heh?
Let's drink to Gaia!
Earth Day on Good Friday made me block or hide a bunch of people on Facebook today for people who believe in one but not the other being jerks to those who hold the opposite belief.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot what Ali G forced Sam Donaldson to recite, "Go shorty, it's your Earth Day, we gonna party like, it's your Earth Day. Mad props to the hood yo!" Haha, not sure if you've seen that clip, but its hilarious.
ReplyDeleteLove all the quotes, especially the Indian Cree one.
Hi Kelly,
ReplyDeleteI'm very familiar with a number of those thoughtful quotes and thanks for the reminder.
As citizens of the earth, we must all make a pact to make this a greener, cleaner and yes, more peaceful planet. This must be our legacy for our children and their children and for all the precious creatures on this fragile planet.
Have a peaceful and positive long weekend, my friend.
Deborah- Glad you liked them and they made you think. I really liked that one by Brin, too.
ReplyDeletebazza- Yeah, part of that quote from Chief Seattle, is on this post.
ReplyDeleteSir Tom- Pretty natty, indeed. Yes, lets drink or smoke to Mother Earth. Unfortunately, I have neither drink or smoke so I guess I'll just sing and scare the cat.
ReplyDeleteDocStout- That's good to know. Btw, I believe in both. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteRico Swaff- That's hilarious! No, I'd never seen that clip but it sounds funny. Yeah, I liked the Indian Cree one, as well. I only picked out the Earth Day quotes that actually held a lot of meaning to me. Take care, man. Say "hello" to Parrot Mom for me. :)
ReplyDeleteLemmiwinks- Nice? What- the adorable picture of myself on the upper right of the blog? Or is it the quotes you're talking about? lol.
ReplyDeleteklahanie- Agreed, of course. We should, as citizens of the world, make a pact to make this a greener world and then some.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, as HUMAN BEINGS of the world, I don't see it happening until it's either too late or it doesn't happen at all. That's why I included in the title of the post- 'We must realize this is our only home' I think if there is intelligent life out there, and I'm pretty sure there is, they look at us and probably think, Damn, these fuckers are retarded. They're killing themselves with their pollution, deforestation and...
I could go on and on but you know what I mean. For a species that is somewhat technologically advanced- we are emotionally and common sense-wise- very, very backwards. Take care, Gary and have a nice weekend. I'll try to do the same. :)
Awesome!! Just so awesome for an earth day post. What more can I say?! =)
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I'd like to apologize to mother earth for each & every ignorant, selfish fuckstick out there. That's what I can say.