Like all animals, human beings have always taken what they want from nature. But we are the rogue species. We are unique in our ability to use resources on a scale and at a speed that our fellow species can't.
Interpretation
Humans exploit natural resources more intensively and rapidly than other species.
This quote highlights the distinctive nature of humans as a species that not only utilizes natural resources but does so at an unparalleled scale and speed. Unlike other animals, humans have developed the technology and social structures necessary to exploit the environment in ways that can be both innovative and destructive, raising important questions about sustainability and our responsibility towards nature.
In practice
In a discussion about climate change, this quote can emphasize our responsibility towards natural resources.
Water, like many other resources, is harvested, transported and used throughout all aspects of society. Unlike other resources, water is critical to the survival of all forms of life. The underlying question that sits at the core of my exploration is to what degree can we shape water before it begins to shape us.
As artists, we can help, visually and intellectually, to make people understand that, at some point, we have to accept that it is our collective impact that is putting the whole planet in jeopardy.
Our planetary system is affected by a magnitude of force as powerful as any naturally occurring global catastrophe, but one caused solely by a single species: us.
I think part of the appeal of Antarctica is experiencing some sort of power, the forces of the natural world.
The sea pronounces something, over and over, in a hoarse whisper; I cannot quite make it out.
The most important thing is to preserve the world we live in. Unless people understand and learn about our world, habitats, and animals, they won't understand that if we don't protect those habitats, we'll eventually destroy ourselves.
Wilderness and motors are incompatible and the former can best be experienced, understood and enjoyed when the machines are left behind where they belong -- on the superhighways and in the parking lots, on the reservoirs and in the marinas.
The dance of the flower in the wind, in the sun, in the rain, cannot be understood by the head; the heart has to be open for it.
Take the crocodile, for example, my favorite animal. There are 23 species. Seventeen of those species are rare or endangered. They're on the way out, no matter what anyone does or says, you know.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.