66 quotes
In our modern world nothing may be taken for granted-not even the spring songs that herald the return of the birds.
Vanishing Americans (1959)
I like to define biology as the history of the earth and all its life — past, present, and future.
Preface to Humane Biology Projects (1961)
Man's future welfare and probably even his survival depend upon his learning to live in harmony, rather than in combat, with these forces.
As human beings, we are part of the whole stream of life.
Speech (1954)
The most alarming of all man's assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials.
Silent Spring (1962)
We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair.
Silent Spring (1962)
This is an era of specialists, each of whom sees his own problem and is unaware of or intolerant of the larger frame into which it fits.
Silent Spring (1962)
Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.
The Sense of Wonder (1965)
The real wealth of the Nation lies in the resources of the earth — soil, water, forests, minerals, and wildlife.
The sediments are a sort of epic poem of the earth.
The Sea Around Us (1951)
I believe that only in that atmosphere of intellectual freedom can we solve the problems before us now.
Man Against Himself (1963)
In our own lifetime we are witnessing a startling alteration of climate.
The Sea Around Us (1951)
Future generations are unlikely to condone our lack of prudent concern for the integrity of the natural world that supports all life.
Silent Spring (1962)
Perhaps if we reversed the telescope and looked at man down these long vistas, we should find less time and inclination to plan for our own destruction.
Acceptance speech of the National Book Award for Nonfiction (1952)
The modern world worships the gods of speed and quantity, and of the quick and easy profit, and out of this idolatry monstrous evils have arisen. Yet the evils go long unrecognized.
Foreword to the book Animal Machines by Ruth Harrison (1964)
Man's attitude toward nature is today critically important, simply because of his new-found power to destroy it.
Speech at Scripps College (1962)
Measured against the vast backdrop of geologic time, the whole era of man seems but a moment-but how portentous a moment!
Speech at Scripps College (1962)
Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.
The Sense of Wonder (1965)
Given time-time not in years but in millennia-life adjusts, and a balance has been reached. For time is the essential ingredient; but in the modern world there is no time.
Silent Spring (1962)
Day by day and season by season, the ocean dominates the world's climate.
The Sea Around Us (1951)