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When the birds sing, do they call to the flowers in the fields, or are they speaking
to the trees, or are they echoing the murmur of the brooks? For Man with his understanding cannot know what the bird is saying,
nor what the brook is murmuring, nor what the waves whisper when they touch the beaches slowly and gently.
Man with his understanding cannot know what the rain is saying when it falls upon
the leaves of the trees or when it taps at the window panes. He cannot know what the breeze is saying to the flowers in the
fields.
But the Heart of Man can feel and grasp the meaning of these sounds that play upon
his feelings. Eternal Wisdom often speaks to him in a mysterious language; Soul and Nature converse together, while Man stands
speechless and bewildered.
Yet has not Man wept at the sounds? And are not his tears eloquent understanding? ~Kahlil Gibran
The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared
long ago... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands. ~Havelock Ellis
The future lies before you, like paths of pure white snow. Be careful how
you tread it, for every step will show. ~Author Unknown
A handful of pine-seed will cover mountains with the green majesty of a forest.
I too will set my face to the wind and throw my handful of seed on high. ~Fiona MacLeod
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. ~Mother Teresa
'Now' is the operative word. Everything you put in your way is just a
method of putting off the hour when you could actually be doing your dream. You don't need endless time and perfect
conditions. Do it now. Do it today. Do it for twenty minutes and watch your heart start beating. ~Barbara
Sher
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Who knows the flower best? - the one who reads about it in a book, or the one who finds
it wild on the mountainside? ~Alexandra David-Neel
The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also
an expression of loyalty to the earth ... the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need - if only we had
the eyes to see. ~Edward Abbey
Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience
for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. ~Victor Hugo
Don't look where you fall, but where you slipped.
~African Proverb
The best way to predict your future is to create it.
~Peter Drucker\
The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not
own the sun. ~Ralph Nader
We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have
not learned the simple art of living together as brothers. Our abundance has brought us neither peace of mind nor serenity
of spirit. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Becoming responsible adults is no longer a matter of whether children hang up their pajamas
or put dirty towels in the hamper, but whether they care about themselves and others -- and whether they see everyday chores
as related to how we treat this planet. ~Eda Leshan
Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have
been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts
within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. ~HH The Dalai Lama
Some day the earth will weep, she will beg for her life, she will cry with tears of blood.
You will make a choice, if you will help her or let her die, and when she dies, you will die too. ~John Hollow Horn, Oglala Lakota
Spring is a natural resurrection, an experience in immortality.
~Henry David Thoreau
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare
feet,
And the wind longs to play with your hair! ~Khalil Gibran
Few are altogether deaf to the preaching of pine trees.
Their sermons on the mountains go to our hearts; and if people in general could be got into the woods, even for once, to hear
the trees speak for themselves, all difficulties in the way of forest preservation would vanish. ~John Muir
Nature is slow, but sure; she works no faster than need
be; she is the tortoise that wins the race by her perseverance. ~Henry David Thoreau
Earth provides enough to satisfy everyone's need, but
not enough to satisfy everyone's greed. ~Mahatma Gandhi
It is a wholesome
and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility
~ Rachel Carson
Measure your health by your
sympathy with morning and Spring. If there is no response in you to the awakening of nature, if the prospect of an early morning
walk does not banish sleep, if the warble of the first bluebird does not thrill you, know that the morning and spring of your
life are past. Thus you may feel your pulse. ~Henry David Thoreau
A virgin forest is where
the hand of man has never set foot. ~Author Unknown
Humankind has not woven the
web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things
are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle
If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if
the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice for your soul is alive. ~Eleanora Duse
My soul can find no staircase
to heaven unless it be through earth's loveliness. ~Michelangelo
Look deep, deep into nature,
and then you will understand everything better. ~Albert Einstein
Contemplate the workings
of this world, listen to the words of the wise, and take all that is good as your own. With this as your base, open your own
door to truth. Do not overlook the truth that is right before you. Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and
freely between the rocks. Also learn from the holy books and wise people. Everything--even mountains, rivers, plants, and
trees--should be your teacher. ~ Morihei Ueshiba
People usually realize the value of a river when it begins to falter,
stop working and even die. The price we would pay for that is too high to calculate in any economic accounting and all because
of human carelessness and ruthlessness. ~Dai Qing
Global warming, together
with the cutting and burning of the forests and the destruction of other critical habitats, is causing the loss of living
species at a rate comparable to that of the extinction of the dinosaurs ... . Most scientists theorize that that event, by
the way, was caused by a giant asteroid colliding with the Earth. This time it is not an asteroid wreaking havoc; it
is us. ~Al Gore, The Moment of Truth, Vanity Fair, The Green Issue, May 2006
I think the environment
should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad.
Otherwise what is there to defend? ~Robert Redford, Yosemite National Park dedication, 1985
The use of solar energy
has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun. ~Ralph Nader, quoted in Linda Botts, ed., Loose
Talk, 1980
It is horrifying that we
have to fight our own government to save the environment. ~Ansel Adams
When we heal the earth, we
heal ourselves. ~David Orr
Soon silence will have passed
into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise
and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation... tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing,
whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego. His anxiety subsides. His inhuman void spreads monstrously
like a gray vegetation. ~Jean Arp
For the first time in the
history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception
until death. ~Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962
The human race will be the
cancer of the planet. ~Julian Huxley, attributed
The days a man spends fishing
or spends hunting should not be deducted from the time that he's on earth. In other words, if I fish today, that should
be added to the amount of time I get to live. That's the way I look at recreation. That's why I'll be a big conservation,
environmental President, because I plan to fish and hunt as much as I possibly can. ~George Bush, quoted in Los Angeles
Times, 30 December 1988
Some Pearls were pulled from the following sources:
Vanity Fair~Special GREEN ISSUE, May 2006~Al Gore,
The Moment of Truth~Essay
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