I want to be represented by people who are thoughtful, self-aware and collaborative. What would a system that elevated such people look like?
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of having considerate and cooperative individuals in positions of influence.
George Monbiot's quote reflects a desire for leadership that prioritizes thoughtfulness, self-awareness, and collaboration. It challenges us to envision systems and structures that support and elevate these qualities, suggesting that the effectiveness of a community or organization relies on the character and mindset of its leaders.
In practice
This quote can be shared at a leadership seminar to inspire future leaders.
The notions that nature exists to serve us; that its value consists of the instrumental benefits we can extract; that this value can be measured in cash terms; and that what can't be measured does not matter, have proved lethal to the rest of life on Earth.
I believe that anyone who wants to stand in a national election should receive a course of psychotherapy. Completing the course should be a qualification for office. This wouldn't change the behaviour of psychopaths, but it might prevent some people who exercise power from imposing their own deep wounds on others.
I became an environmentalist because I love the living world, but I spend much of my life thinking about electricity, industrial processes and civil engineering.
Places that have become agricultural deserts, trashed by giant corporations, could be reforested, drawing carbon dioxide from the air on a vast scale. The ecosystems of land and sea could recover, not just in pockets but across great tracts of the planet.
Never underestimate the power of intrinsic values. They inspire every struggle for a better world.
Why is it so easy to save the banks - but so hard to save the biosphere?
Lack of orders is no excuse for inaction.
It is a critical job of any entrepreneur to maximize creativity, and to build the kind of atmosphere around you that encourages people to have ideas. That means open structures, so that accepted thinking can be challenged.
To state the facts frankly is not to despair the future nor indict the past. The prudent heir takes careful inventory of his legacies and gives a faithful accounting to those whom he owes an obligation of trust.
There goes my people. I must follow them, for I am their leader.
It's no accident many accuse me of conducting public affairs with my heart instead of my head. Well, what if I do?.. Those who don't know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either.
An Army is a collection of armed men obliged to obey one man. Every change in the rules which impairs the principle weakens the army.
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