Even though the environment took a backseat to the recent pandemic when it came to recent news headlines, the climate remains in crisis. Sometimes, though, you need inspiration to walk back out to your car in the rain to get your forgotten reusable bags or sort your recyclables instead of tossing everything.
Here are 20 of the top environmental quotes to remind you to do the right thing.
1. “The Earth is what we all have in common.” — Wendell Berry
Like Senator Bernie Sanders is fond of saying, we are all in this together.
2. “The garden suggests that there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway.” — Michael Pollan
If you got into the gardening craze during the pandemic shutdowns, you know the proven health benefits — including feeling in touch with the Earth.
3. “He that plants trees loves others besides himself.” — Thomas Fuller
Preserving the planet now is a blessing to future generations.
4. “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
FDR was among the most environmentally friendly presidents, creating five national parks during his time in office.
5. “What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and one another.” — Chris Maser
Perhaps we should treat the planet more kindly? We’ll learn something about how to treat each other, too.
6. “The Earth does not belong to us; we belong to the Earth.” — Chief Seattle
We owe a sacred duty to protect our ancestral home.
7. “But Man is a part of Nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.” — Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson sounded the alarm about pesticides and chemicals in her now-classic book, “Silent Spring.”
8. “Today you can murder land for private profit. You can leave the corpse for all to see and no one calls the cops.” — Paul Brooks
The human pursuit of endless growth and progress should never come at the cost of environmental harm.
9. “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead
If you ever feel like you can’t make a difference — you can and do.
10. “Plans to protect air and water, wilderness, and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.” — Steward Udall
Destroying one’s home is a terrible way to ensure a future place to live.
11. “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” — Mahatma Gandhi
Humans have the resources they need to support human and animal life. What has the relentless pursuit of profit cost in terms of ecology?
12. “A healthy ecology is the basis for a healthy economy.” — Claudine Schneider
Without a place to conduct operations, no business can thrive.
13. “It is our collective and individual responsibility to preserve and tend to the world in which we all live.” — Dalai Lama
Do you use the “other people do it” excuse when you opt for plastic instead of walking back to your car for your reusable bags? Remember that conservation takes a group effort.
14. “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” — William Shakespeare
Nature unites human beings. This one enduring principle has withstood the test of time.
15. “It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.” — Ansel Adams
When it feels like those in power aren’t doing enough to address climate change, it’s necessary to keep calling and writing to your representatives and to find out which of them serve corporations over the public good.
16. “The environment is where we all meet; where we all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share.” — Lady Bird Johnson
One feature all humans share is that they need the planet to survive.
17. “If the Bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, Man would have no more than four years to live.” — Albert Einstein
Some species have already made the endangered species list — the time to act is now.
18. “Environment is no one’s property to destroy; it is everyone’s responsibility to protect.” — Mohith Agadi
Could humankind’s obsession with private property lurk behind the destruction of the planet?
19. “We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the Earth as its other creatures do.” — Barbara Ward
Bears, deer, and rabbits do not pollute — only humans do.
20. “In nature’s economy, the currency is not money; it is life.” — Vandana Shiva
All the money in the world can’t restore the earth.
Feel Inspired by the Best Quotes on Environment Protection
When you need a bit of inspiration to do the right thing by the planet, please turn to these 20 environmental quotes for motivation for saving the planet.
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