When a tradition gathers enough strength to go on for centuries, you don't just turn it off one day.
Chinua AchebeRead
The path to relative economic, social and ecological sustainability is guaranteed to be littered with failures of every nature and scale. If we recognize them and learn from them, the transition will proceed faster and in more resource-efficient ways. If, on the other hand, we prefer the short-term comfort of burying our failures, or of blaming scapegoats, the transition will be significantly slowed, or could even be derailed completely.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Embracing and learning from failures is essential for achieving sustainability.
This quote emphasizes the importance of acknowledging failures in the pursuit of sustainability across economic, social, and ecological dimensions. It suggests that recognizing and learning from these setbacks can accelerate progress and optimize resource use, whereas evading responsibility or blaming others can hinder the necessary transition towards a more sustainable future.
Themes
SustainabilityFailureLearningTransitionResource-Efficient
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a sustainability conference to emphasize the need for resilience and learning.
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