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It used to be said, that in places like this, nature eventually failed to support man, the truth is exactly the reverse, here man failed to support nature. Ten thousand years ago man regarded the natural world as divine, but as he domesticated animals and plants so nature lost some of its mystery and appeared to be little more than a larder that could be raided with impunity.

— David Attenborough The First Eden (1987)

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More quotes by David Attenborough

If we [humans] disappeared overnight, the world would probably be better off [making the point that the reverse is not true].

Right now we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale, our greatest threat in thousands of years: climate change. If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.

In moments of great grief, that's where you look and immerse yourself. You realise you are not immortal, you are not a god, you are part of the natural world and you come to accept that.

We must change our diet. The planet can’t support billions of meat-eaters.

Trade is a proper and decent relationship, with dignity and respect on both sides.

A Blank on the Map (1971)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: David Attenborough (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.