Our tools are better than we are, and grow better faster than we do. They suffice to crack the atom, to command the tides, but they do not suffice for the oldest task in human history, to live on a piece of land without spoiling it.
Aldo LeopoldRead
A river or stream is a cycle of energy from sun to plants to insects to fish. It is a continuum broken only by humans.
Interpretation
The quote illustrates the interconnectedness of nature and how human actions disrupt natural cycles.
Aldo Leopold emphasizes the flow of energy through ecosystems, showcasing how sunlight empowers plants, which in turn support various forms of life, including insects and fish. However, he points out that human interference disrupts this natural continuum, highlighting the need for a harmonious relationship with the environment.
In practice
In a speech about environmental conservation, this quote could reinforce the importance of protecting natural ecosystems.
Our tools are better than we are, and grow better faster than we do. They suffice to crack the atom, to command the tides, but they do not suffice for the oldest task in human history, to live on a piece of land without spoiling it.
We Americans, in most states at least, have not yet experienced a bear-less, eagle-less, cat- less, wolf-less woods. Germany strove for maximum yields of both timber and game and got neither.
When some remote ancestor of ours invented the shovel, he became a giver: He could plant a tree. And when the axe was invented, he became a taker: He could chop it down. Whoever owns land has thus assumed, whether he knows it or not, the divine functions of creating and destroying plants.
Recreational development is a job not of building roads into lovely country, but of building receptivity into the still unlovely human mind.
My dog does not care where heat comes from, but he cares that it comes, and soon. Indeed he considers my ability to make it come as something magical, for when I rise in the coal black pre-dawn and kneel by the hearth to make a fire, he pushes himself blandly between me and the kindling splits I have laid in the ashes, and I must touch a match to them by poking it between his legs. Such faith , I suppose, is the kind that moves mountains.
Individual thinkers since the days of Ezekiel and Isaiah have asserted that the despoliation of land is not only inexpedient but wrong. Society, however, has not yet affirmed their belief.
Look on this beautiful world, and read the truth in her fair page.
I wrote 'Big Yellow Taxi' on my first trip to Hawaii. I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart this blight on paradise. That's when I sat down and wrote the song.
Most Africans don't get to see these wild animals at all. Once they see and learn about them, they are much more likely to become involved in protecting the environment.
Well-apparel'd April on the heel_x000D_ _x000D_ Of limping Winter treads.
I'm not over-fond of animals. I am merely astounded by them.
Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.