If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people, people whose love for this life is even greater than their fear. People who can open to the web of life that called us into being
Joanna MacyRead
Future generations, if there is a livable world for them, _x000D_ will look back at the epochal transition we are making to a life-sustaining society. _x000D_ And they may well call this _x000D_ the time of the Great Turning.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of transforming society into one that is sustainable for future generations.
Joanna Macy's quote reflects on the critical transition humanity must undergo to create a sustainable world for future generations. It highlights the urgency of addressing environmental and social issues, suggesting that this period of change may be recognized as a pivotal moment in history, termed the 'Great Turning'. This emphasizes the collective responsibility we hold to instigate meaningful change for the well-being of those who will come after us.
Themes
SustainabilityFutureChangeEnvironmentSociety
In practice
Example use cases
During a climate change conference, this quote can be used to inspire action among attendees.
More from Joanna Macy
All quotes →To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe -- to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive it, lungs that breathe it, organs that draw nourishment from it -- is a wonder beyond words.
Joanna MacyRead
It is good to realize that falling apart is not such a bad thing. Indeed, it is as essential to evolutionary and psychological transformation as the cracking of outgrown shells.
Joanna MacyRead
Confirming an intuitive sense I've always felt for the interconnectedness of all things, this doctrine has provided me ways to understand the intricate web of co-arising that links one being with all other beings, and to apprehend the reciprocities between thought and action, self and universe.
Joanna MacyRead
Out of this darkness a new world can arise, not to be constructed by our minds so much as to emerge from our dreams. Even though we cannot see clearly how it's going to turn out, we are still called to let the future into our imagination. We will never be able to build what we have not first cherished in our hearts.
Joanna MacyRead
It’s walking the razor’s edge of the sacred moment where you don’t know, you can’t count on, and comfort yourself with any sure hope. All you can know is your allegiance to life and your intention to serve it in this moment that we are given. In that sense, this radical uncertainty liberates your creativity and courage.
Joanna MacyRead
Similar quotes
We cannot effect meaningful change if we become complacent, if we become comfortable with our own positions in the status quo.
Cyril RamaphosaRead
Race is the great taboo in our society. We are afraid to talk about it. White folks fear their unspoken views will be deemed racist. People of color are filled with sorrow and rage at unrighted wrongs. Drowning in silence, we are brothers and sisters drowning each other. Once we decide to transform ourselves from fearful caterpillars into courageous butterflies, we will be able to bridge the racial gulf and move forward together towards a bright and colorful future.
Eva PatersonRead
Thankfully dreams can change. If we'd all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses. So whatever your dream is right now, if you don't achieve it, you haven't failed and you're not some loser-but just as importantly-if you do get your dream, you're not a winner.
Stephen ColbertRead
The key to the ability to change is a changeless sense of who you are, what you are about and what you value.
Stephen CoveyRead
I hope one day people don't look at women like they're out of their minds when they want to pick up an instrument and play. And I think we're getting a lot closer to that.
Joan JettRead
In the summer of 1966, I went to Mississippi to be in the heart of the civil-rights movement, helping people who had been thrown off the farms or taken off the welfare roles for registering to vote. While working there, I met the civil-rights lawyer I later married - we became an interracial couple.
Alice WalkerRead