Economists (and others) who are satisfied with nature-free equations develop a dangerous hubris about the potency of our species
Garrett HardinRead
Thou shalt not transgress the carrying capacity
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of respecting natural limits in our actions. It warns against exceeding the balance that nature can sustain.
Garrett Hardin's quote serves as a critical reminder that every ecosystem has a carrying capacity, which defines the maximum population size of a species that an environment can sustain indefinitely without degrading. When humans push beyond these natural limits through overconsumption or exploitation, it leads to environmental degradation, resource depletion, and ultimately threatens our survival. This perspective advocates for responsible stewardship of the earth and an acknowledgment of our interconnectedness with nature.
Themes
Carrying CapacityEnvironmentSustainabilityNatureLimits
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about sustainable farming practices, one might quote Hardin to emphasize the importance of not overusing land.
More from Garrett Hardin
All quotes βMoreover, the practical recommendations deduced from ecological principles threaten the vested interests of commerce; it is hardly surprising that the financial and political power created by these investments should be used sometimes to suppress environmental impact studies.
Garrett HardinRead
A technical solution may be defined as one that requires a change only in the techniques of the natural sciences, demanding little or nothing in the way of change in human values or ideas of morality.
Garrett HardinRead
A finite world can support only a finite population; therefore, population growth must eventually equal zero.
Garrett HardinRead
Indeed, our particular concept of private property, which deters us from exhausting the positive resources of the earth, favors pollution.
Garrett HardinRead
Society does not need more children; but it does need more loved children. Quite literally, we cannot afford unloved children - but we pay heavily for them every day. There should not be the slightest communal concern when a woman elects to destroy the life of her thousandth-of-an-ounce embryo. But all society should rise up in alarm when it hears that a baby that is not wanted is about to be born.
Garrett HardinRead
Similar quotes
To keep the heart then, is carefully to preserve it from sin which disorders it; and maintain that spiritual and gracious frame, which fits it for a life of communion with God.
John FlavelRead
My days among the dead are passed; Around me I behold, Where'er these casual eyes are cast, The mighty minds of old; My never-failing friends are they, With whom I converse day by day.
Robert SoutheyRead
No one should deny the danger of the descent, but it can be risked. No one need risk it, but it is certain that someone will. And let those who go down the sunset way do so with open eyes, for it is a sacrifice which daunts even the gods. Yet every descent is followed by an ascent.
Carl JungRead
OBLIVION, n. The state or condition in which the wicked cease from struggling and the dreary are at rest. Fame's eternal dumping ground.
Ambrose BierceRead
History is the fruit of power, but power itself is never so transparent that its analysis becomes superfluous. The ultimate mark of power may be its invisibility; the ultimate challenge, the exposition of its roots.
Michel-Rolph TrouillotRead
When God wants to drive a person insane, he grants that person's every wish.
Paulo CoelhoRead