Never limit yourself because of others' limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.
Mae JemisonRead
We put water down into the earth to push up gas, then we say, 'Ooh, we're having a water crisis.' This is foolishness, and this kind of foolishness, where we try to excuse human behavior, is dangerous.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote criticizes the hypocrisy in how we address environmental issues caused by our own actions.
Mae Jemison points out the irony of how we extract resources like gas from the earth while simultaneously complaining about issues like water scarcity. This reflection on human behavior highlights the danger of ignoring the consequences of our actions, suggesting that our inability to take responsibility for our choices may lead to more significant problems in the future.
Themes
EnvironmentFoolishnessHuman BehaviorWater CrisisResponsibility
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on environmental science, this quote can highlight the issues of resource management.
More from Mae Jemison
All quotes →Greatness can be captured in one word: lifestyle. Life is God's gift to you, style is what you make of it.
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To survive as a species on this planet, we're going to have to see ourselves as Earthlings.
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We look at science as something very elite, which only a few people can learn. That's just not true. You just have to start early and give kids a foundation. Kids live up, or down, to expectations.
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Intuitive versus analytical? That's a foolish choice. It's foolish, just like trying to choose between being realistic or idealistic. You need both in life.
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The reality is the majority of us will not get off this planet. So the long run is, some kind of space exploration has to benefit us here on Earth.
Mae JemisonRead
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