There is a great need for the introduction of new values in our society, where bigger is not necessarily better, where slower can be faster, and where less can be more.
Gaylord NelsonRead
The most important environmental issue is one that is rarely mentioned, and that is the lack of a conservation ethic in our culture.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the critical need for a cultural shift towards valuing and practicing environmental conservation.
Gaylord Nelson emphasizes that the most pressing environmental challenge we face is not the physical threats to nature, but rather a fundamental lack of a conservation ethic within our society. He suggests that a collective mindset valuing preservation and stewardship of the environment is essential for sustainable progress and addressing ecological issues.
In practice
This quote can be used to open a speech at an environmental conservation conference.
There is a great need for the introduction of new values in our society, where bigger is not necessarily better, where slower can be faster, and where less can be more.
The ultimate test of a man's conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.
Reaching a general understanding that sustainability is the ultimate issue will finally bring us face-to-face with the political challenge of forging a sustainable society during the next few decades. It is a challenge we can meet if we have the leadership and the political will to do so.
Our goal is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality and mutual respect for all other human beings and all other living creatures.
This is a delicious evening, when the whole body is one sense, and imbibes delight through every pore.
The grass he walked through was new and a sweet smell clung to his clothes. There was blue dye on his hands from the wild irises... that the color of the sky was a shade that could never be replicated in any photograph, just as Heaven could never be seen from the confines of Earth.
For the Infinite has sowed his name in the heavens in burning stars, but on the earth He has sowed his name in tender flowers.
In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it.
Love is a powerful tool, and maybe, just maybe, before the last little town is corrupted and the last of the unroaded and undeveloped wildness is given over to dreams of profit, maybe it will be love, finally, love for the land for its own sake and for what it holds of beauty and joy and spiritual redemption that will make [wilderness] not a battlefield but a revelation.
We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.
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