Every person who has ever achieved anything has been knocked down many times. But all of them picked themselves up and kept going, and that is what I have always tried to do.
Wangari MaathaiRead
It is evident that many wars are fought over resources which are now becoming increasingly scarce. If we conserved our resources better, fighting over them would not occur ... protecting the global environment is directly related to securing peace. Those of us who understand the complex concept of the environment have the burden to act. We must not tire, we must not give up, we must persist.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of resource conservation to prevent conflict and the responsibility of individuals to take action for environmental protection.
Wangari Maathai highlights the connection between resource scarcity and conflict, arguing that if we manage our natural resources more sustainably, we can reduce the likelihood of wars fought over them. She urges those who comprehend the environmental challenges to take the initiative in advocating for change, emphasizing persistence in the face of challenges as essential for protecting both the environment and peace.
Themes
ResourcesEnvironmentPeaceConservationAction
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at an environmental conference, one might quote this to stress the urgency of conserving resources.
More from Wangari Maathai
All quotes →It was easy to persecute me without people feeling ashamed. It was easy to vilify me and project me as a woman who was not following the tradition of a 'good African woman' and as a highly educated elitist who was trying to show innocent African women ways of doing things that were not acceptable to African men.
Wangari MaathaiRead
I know there is pain when sawmills close and people lose jobs, but we have to make a choice. We need water and we need these forests.
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We’re constantly being bombarded by problems that we face and sometimes we can get completely overwhelmed. [But] we should always feel like a hummingbird. I may feel insignificant, but I don’t want to be like the other animals watching the planet go down the drain. I’ll be a hummingbird, I’ll do the best I can.
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As long as there is no trust and confidence that there will be justice and fairness in resource distribution, political positioning will remain more important than service
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It gradually became clear that the Green Belt Movement's work with communities to repair the degraded environment could not be done effectively without participants embracing a set of core spiritual values.
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