Biodiversity Quotes

• Look closely at nature. Every species is a masterpiece, exquisitely adapted to the particular environment in which it has survived. Who are we to destroy or even diminish biodiversity?

  E. O. Wilson

  Looks, Environment, Masterpiece

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• We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity.

  E. O. Wilson

  Nature, Mean, Humanity

  "The Diversity of Life". Book by Edward O. Wilson, 1992.

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• Biodiversity is the greatest treasure we have... Its diminishment is to be prevented at all cost.

  Thomas Eisner

  Greatest Treasure, Cost, Complexity

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• We cannot win this battle to save species and environments without forging an emotional bond between ourselves and nature as well - for we will not fight to save what we do not love.

  Stephen Jay Gould

  Nature, Fighting, Emotional

  Stephen Jay Gould (1993). “Eight little piggies: reflections in natural history”, Vintage

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• Uniformity is not nature's way; diversity is nature's way.

  Vandana Shiva

  Nature, Diversity, Brotherhood

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• We share this planet with many species. It is our responsibility to protect them, both for their sakes and our own.

  Pamela A. Matson

  Responsibility, Sake, Share

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• The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats and biodiversity... that's all there is. That's the whole economy. That's where all the economic activity and jobs come from. These biological systems are the sustaining wealth of the world.

  Gaylord Nelson

  Jobs, Ocean, Rivers

  Gaylord Nelson, Paul A. Wozniak, Susan M. Campbell (2002). “Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise”, p.157, Univ of Wisconsin Press

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• Each species on our planet plays a role in the healthy functioning of natural ecosystems, on which humans depend.

  William H. Schlesinger

  Ecosystems, Play, Healthy

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• Biodiversity is the totality of all inherited variation in the life forms of Earth, of which we are one species. We study and save it to our great benefit. We ignore and degrade it to our great peril.

  E. O. Wilson

  Variation, Benefits, Earth

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• Biodiversity starts in the distant past and it points toward the future.

  Frans Lanting

  Past

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• Collective human actions are transforming, even ravaging, the biosphere - perhaps irreversibly - through global warming and loss of biodiversity.

  Martin Rees

  Loss, Action, Global Warming

  "Dark materials". Essay by Martin Rees, www.theguardian.com. June 09, 2006.

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• After the final no there comes a yes
  And on that yes the future world depends.

  Wallace Stevens

  Inspirational, Teaching, Future

  "Harmonium". Book by Wallace Stevens, 1923.

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• I can't imagine anything more important than air, water, soil, energy and biodiversity. These are the things that keep us alive.

  David Suzuki

  Air, Water, Important

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• Cultivating and conserving diversity is no luxury in our times: it is a survival imperative.

  Vandana Shiva

  Luxury, Diversity, Survival

  Vandana Shiva (2005). “Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability and Peace”, p.94, Zed Books

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• Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.

  William Wordsworth

  Life, Education, Teacher

  William Wordsworth (1837). “The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth: Together with a Description of the Country of the Lakes in the North of England, Now First Published with His Works ...”, p.337

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• For if one link in nature's chain might be lost, another might be lost, until the whole of things will vanish by piecemeal.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Nature, Environmental, Links

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• If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and well, and destroy the biodiversity that allows natural systems to function, no amount of money will save us.

  David Suzuki

  Air, Water, Positive Energy

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• Our health relies entirely on the vitality of our fellow species on Earth.

  Harrison Ford

  Strength, Nature, Health

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• Protecting biodiversity is just as important and critical to the survival of mankind as stabilizing the climate. Species protection and climate are interdependent.

  Klaus Topfer

  Survival, Important, Climate

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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• The preservation of biodiversity is not just a job for governments. International and non-governmental organisations, the private sector and each and every individual have a role to play in changing entrenched outlooks and ending destructive patterns of behaviour

  Kofi Annan

  Nature, Jobs, Government

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• To many people, 'biodiversity' is almost synonymous with the word 'nature,' and 'nature' brings to mind steamy forests and the big creatures that dwell there. Fair enough. But biodiversity is much more than that, for it encompasses not only the diversity of species, but also the diversity within species.

  Cary Fowler

  People, Diversity, Mind

  "Of Pandas and Peas: Saving the Diversity Within Species". www.huffingtonpost.com.

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• When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.

  John Muir

  Motivational, Wisdom, Nature

  John Muir (2011). “My First Summer in the Sierra: Illustrated Edition”, p.104, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• Just as the natural environment depends on biodiversity, so the human environment depends on cultural diversity, because no one civilization encompasses all the spiritual, ethical and artistic expressions of mankind.

  Jonathan Sacks

  Spiritual, Expression, Civilization

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• When I hear of the destruction of a species, I feel just as if all the works of some great writer have perished.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Animal, Feels Just, Conservation

  Theodore Roosevelt (2010). “The Green Roosevelt: Theodore Roosevelt in Appreciation of Wilderness, Wildlife, and Wild Places”, p.24, Cambria Press

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• It is that range of biodiversity that we must care for - the whole thing - rather than just one or two stars.

  David Attenborough

  Stars, Two, Care

  "Is it worth saving the world’s most worthless species?". www.iucn.org. November 26, 2012.

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