Americans have a severe disease - worse than AIDS. It's called the winner's complex.
Mikhail GorbachevRead
I think the environmental problem will be the number one item on the agenda of the 21st century... This is a problem that cannot be postponed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The environmental issue will dominate our priorities in the 21st century and requires immediate action.
Mikhail Gorbachev emphasizes the urgency of addressing environmental problems, suggesting that they will be the most pressing concern of this century. He warns that such issues cannot be delayed any longer, highlighting the need for proactive measures to ensure a sustainable future for our planet.
Themes
EnvironmentSustainabilityUrgent Action21St CenturyGlobal Issue
In practice
Example use cases
In a conference about climate change, we could use this quote to stress the immediate need for action.
More from Mikhail Gorbachev
All quotes βGentlemen, comrades, do not be concerned about all you hear about Glasnost and Perestroika and democracy in the coming years. They are primarily for outward consumption. There will be no significant internal changes in the Soviet Union, other than for cosmetic purposes. Our purpose is to disarm the Americans and let them fall asleep.
Mikhail GorbachevRead
The soviet people want full-blooded and unconditional democracy.
Mikhail GorbachevRead
To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals.
Mikhail GorbachevRead
New approaches are needed, new orientations in both thought and action. We must make the transition to a new civilization...We are talking of a transition toward a new civilization. No one knows what it will be like. What is important is to orient in that direction... I am convinced that a new civilization will inevitably take on certain features that are characteristic of, or inherent in, the socialist ideal.
Mikhail GorbachevRead
According to Lenin, socialism and democracy are indivisible.... The essence of perestroika lies in the fact that it unites socialism with democracy and revives the Leninist concept of socialist construction both in theory and in practice. We want more socialism and, therefore, more democracy.
Mikhail GorbachevRead
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The world has different owners at sunrise... Even your own garden does not belong to you. Rabbits and blackbirds have the lawns; a tortoise-shell cat who never appears in daytime patrols the brick walls, and a golden-tailed pheasant glints his way through the iris spears.
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Only nature has a right to grieve perpetually, for she only is innocent. Soon the ice will melt, and the blackbirds sing along the river which he frequented, as pleasantly as ever. The same everlasting serenity will appear in this face of God, and we will not be sorrowful, if he is not.
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Mathematics are well and good but Nature keeps dragging us around by the nose.
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Probably the most visible example of unintended consequences, is what happens every time humans try to change the natural ecology of a place.
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