The horizon leans forward, offering you space to place new steps of change.
Maya AngelouRead
It's not about the fish; it's not about the pollution; it's not about the climate change. It's about us and our greed and our need for growth and our inability to imagine a world that is different from the selfish world we live in today.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that the root cause of environmental issues lies in human greed and inability to envision alternatives.
Jeremy Jackson's quote points out that environmental challenges such as pollution and climate change are symptoms of a deeper problem—human greed and an obsession with perpetual growth. It urges us to recognize that our current mindset is limiting our ability to imagine and create a better world, one that moves beyond selfish interests and unsustainable practices.
In practice
In a speech about sustainability, you could use this quote to highlight the need for a mindset change.
The horizon leans forward, offering you space to place new steps of change.
When I was maybe eight or nine years old, I first learned about the climate crisis in school. My teachers taught me about it and we saw films and pictures of plastic in the ocean and extreme weather events. Those pictures were just stuck in my head; I thought, there is no point in anything.
A caterpillar who seeks to know himself would never become a butterfly
Starting reforms in the Soviet Union was only possible from above, only from above. Any attempt to go from below was suppressed, suppressed in a most resolute way.
Nothing in the past is as powerful as what we choose to do in the present moment.
Nowadays you can go anywhere in the world in a few hours, and nothing is fabulous any more.
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