Paul Hawken Quotes

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When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse.

Paul Hawken

Optimistic, Odds, Order

"Paul Hawken: programming a new operating system for civilization" by James Epstein-Reeves and Ellen Weinreb, www.theguardian.com. September 23, 2013.

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Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.

Paul Hawken

Art, Business, Top Management

Paul Hawken (1988). “Growing a Business”, p.39, Simon and Schuster

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The great thing about the dilemma we're in is that we get to re-imagine every single thing we do...There isn't a single thing that doesn't require a complete remake. There are two ways of looking at that. One is: Oh my gosh, what a big burden. The other way, which I prefer, is: What a great time to be born! What a great time to be alive! Because this generation gets to essentially completely change the world.

Paul Hawken

Change, Two, This Generation

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What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world.

Paul Hawken

Encouragement, Odds, Order

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Business is the only mechanism on the planet today powerful enough to produce the changes necessary to reverse global environments and social degradation.

Paul Hawken

Powerful, Degradation, Today

Commonwealth Club of San Francisco Speech, www.theguardian.com. 1992.

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All is connected ... no one thing can change by itself.

Paul Hawken

Change, Rivers, Environmental

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Healing the wounds of the earth and its people does not require saintliness or a political party, only gumption and persistence. It is not a liberal or conservative activity; it is a sacred act.

Paul Hawken

Party, Healing, Persistence

Paul Hawken (2007). “Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History Is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beau ty to the World”, p.14, Penguin

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First we need to decide what needs to be done. Then we do it. And then we ask if it is possible.

Paul Hawken

Needs, Done, Firsts

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The future belongs to those who understand that doing more with less is compassionate, prosperous, and enduring, and thus more intelligent, even competitive.

Paul Hawken

Inspiring, Future, Intelligent

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The first rule of sustainability is to align with natural forces, or at least not try to defy them

Paul Hawken

Future, Vision, Trying

"Experts: Big Hurricanes in Future", www.wired.com. October 2, 2005.

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Business is correct to defend its right to act in order to produce a vigorous and engaging prosperity. But it is wrong if it forgets that this freedom can only be experienced within the discipline of social responsibility.

Paul Hawken

Responsibility, Order, Discipline

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Sustainability is an economic state where the demands placed upon the environment by people and commerce can be met without reducing the capacity of the environment to provide for future generations. It can also be expressed in the simple terms of an economic golden rule for the restorative economy: Leave the world better than you found it, take no more than you need, try not to harm life or the environment, make amends if you do.

Paul Hawken

Simple, People, Trying

"The Ecology of Commerce". Book by Paul Hawken, 1993.

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My advice for people is to love the world they are in, in whatever way makes sense to them. It may be a devotional practice, it may be song or poetry, it may be by gardening, it may be as an activist, scientist, or community leader. The path to restoration extends from our heart to the heart of sentient beings, and that path will be different for every person.

Paul Hawken

Song, Heart, Practice

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Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. The world would become religious overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead, the stars come out every night, and we watch television.

Paul Hawken

Inspirational, Life, Religious

"You are Brilliant, and the Earth is Hiring". Paul Hawken's commencement speech at University of Portland in Oregon, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 2, 2014.

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We have an economy that tells us it is cheaper to destroy earth in real time rather than renew, restore, and sustain it. You can print money to bail out a bank but you can't print life to bail out a planet.

Paul Hawken

Business, Real, Bail

"You are Brilliant, and the Earth is Hiring". Paul Hawken's commencement speech at the University of Portland in Oregon, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 2, 2014.

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Don't be put off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done.

Paul Hawken

Giving Up, People, Needs

Paul Hawken's Commencement Address to the Class at the University of Portland, www.commondreams.org. May 3, 2009.

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Always leave enough time in your life to do something that makes you happy, satisfied, even joyous. That has more of an effect on economic well-being than any other single factor.

Paul Hawken

Life, Happiness, Success

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At present we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it gross domestic product.

Paul Hawken

Calling, Stealing, Selling

Paul Hawken's Commencement Address at University of Portland in Portland, Oregon, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 2, 2014.

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The generations before you failed. They didn’t stay up all night. They got distracted and lost sight of the fact that life is a miracle every moment of your existence. Nature beckons you to be on her side. You couldn’t ask for a better boss. The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer. Hope only makes sense when it doesn’t make sense to be hopeful. This is your century. Take it and run as if your life depends on it.

Paul Hawken

Running, Night, Sight

Paul Hawken's Commencement Address at University of Portland in Portland, Oregon, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 2, 2014.

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Inspiration is not garnered from the litanies of what may befall us; it resides in humanity's willingness to restore, redress, reform, rebuild, recover, reimagine, and reconsider.

Paul Hawken

Spiritual, Inspiration, Humanity

Paul Hawken's Commencement Address to the Class of 2009, www.commondreams.org. May 3, 2009.

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Working for the earth is not a way to get rich, it is a way to be rich.

Paul Hawken

Earth, Way, Rich

Paul Hawken's commencement address to the Class of 2009 at the University of Portland in Oregon, www.commondreams.org. May 3, 2009.

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You are Brilliant and the Earth is Hiring.

Paul Hawken

Earth, Brilliant, Hiring

Paul Hawken's Commencement Address at University of Portland in Portland, Oregon, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 2, 2014.

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The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer.

Paul Hawken

Dreamer, World, Cynic

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Only caring individuals can restore the places we inhabit. The 'simple act of planting a tree' not only restores the places we live, but makes us whole and powerful again.

Paul Hawken

Powerful, Caring, Simple

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his planet came with a set of instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, or air, don’t let the earth get overcrowded, and don’t touch the thermostat have been broken.

Paul Hawken

Future, Air, Broken

"The Impossible Will Take a Little While: Perseverance and Hope in Troubled Times". Book by Paul Loeb, www.huffingtonpost.com. April 29, 2014.

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Born: February 8, 1946
Occupation: Environmentalist
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