Wangari Maathai > Quotes

“Human rights are not things that are put on the table for people to enjoy. These are things you fight for and then you protect.”
― Wangari Maathai

“Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own - indeed to embrace the whole of creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder. Recognizing that sustainable development, democracy and peace are indivisible is an idea whose time has come”
― Wangari Maathai

“The generation that destroys the environment is not the generation that pays the price. That is the problem.”
― Wangari Maathai

“I’m very conscious of the fact that you can’t do it alone. It’s teamwork. When you do it alone you run the risk that when you are no longer there nobody else will do it.”
― Wangari Maathai, The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience

“Education, if it means anything, should not take people away from the land, but instill in them even more respect for it, because educated people are in a position to understand what is being lost. The future of the planet concerns all of us, and all of us should do what we can to protect it. As I told the foresters, and the women, you don't need a diploma to plant a tree.”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed

“There are opportunities even in the most difficult moments.”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed

“Finally I was able to see that if I had a contribution I wanted to make, I must do it, despite what others said. That I was OK the way I was. That it was all right to be strong.”
― Wangari Maathai

“In trying to explain this linkage, I was inspired by a traditional African tool that has three legs and a basin to sit on. To me the three legs represent three critical pillars of just and stable societies. The first leg stands for democratic space, where rights are respected, whether they are human rights, women's rights, children's rights, or environmental rights. The second represents sustainable and equitable management and resources. And the third stands for cultures of peace that are deliberately cultivated within communities and nations. The basin, or seat, represents society and its prospects for development. Unless all three legs are in place, supporting the seat, no society can thrive. Neither can its citizens develop their skills and creativity. When one leg is missing, the seat is unstable; when two legs are missing, it is impossible to keep any state alive; and when no legs are available, the state is as good as a failed state. No development can take place in such a state either. Instead, conflict ensues.”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed

“A tree has roots in the soil yet reaches to the sky. It tells us that in order to aspire we need to be grounded and that no matter how high we go it is from our roots that we draw sustenance. It is a reminder to all of us who have had success that we cannot forget where we came from. It signifies that no matter how powerful we become in government or how many awards we receive, our power and strength and our ability to reach our goals depend on the people, those whose work remain unseen, who are the soil out of which we grow, the shoulders on which we stand”
― Wangari Maathai

“As I swept the last bit of dust, I made a covenant with myself: I will accept. Whatever will be, will be. I have a life to lead. I recalled words a friend had told me, the philosophy of her faith. "Life is a journey and a struggle," she had said. "We cannot control it, but we can make the best of any situation." I was indeed in quite a situation. It was up to me to make the best of it.”
― Wangari Maathai

“Throughout my life, I have never stopped to strategize about my next steps. I often just keep walking along, through whichever door opens. I have been on a journey and this journey has never stopped. When the journey is acknowledged and sustained by those I work with, they are a source of inspiration, energy and encouragement. They are the reasons I kept walking, and will keep walking, as long as my knees hold out.”
― Wangari Maathai

“There comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness . . . that time is now.”
― Wangari Maathai

“No matter how dark the cloud, there is always a thin, silver lining, and that is what we must look for. The silver lining will come, if not to us then to next generation or the generation after that. And maybe with that generation the lining will no longer be thin.”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed

“We all share one planet and are one humanity; there is no escaping this reality.”
― Wangari Maathai

“When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and hope.”
― Wangari Maathai

“Trees are living symbols of peace and hope. A tree has roots in the soil yet reaches to the sky. It tells us that in order to aspire we need to be grounded...”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed

“What people see as fearlessness is really persistence.”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed

“the world’s interactions with Africa are not necessarily motivated by altruism, but by the self-interest of states seeking to maximize their opportunities and minimize their costs, often at the expense of those who are not in a position to do either.”
― Wangari Maathai, The Challenge for Africa

“When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope.  We also secure the future for our children.”
― Wangari Maathai, The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience

“Hallowed landscapes lost their sacredness and were exploited as the local people became insensitive to the destruction, accepting it as a sign of progress.”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed: A Memoir

“We all share one planet and are one humanity; there is no escaping this reality.”
― Wangari Maathai, The Challenge for Africa

“the trauma of the colonised is rarely examined, and steps are rarely taken to understand and redress it. Instead, the psychological damage passes from one generation to the next, until its victims recognise their dilemma and work to liberate themselves from the trauma”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed

“I told Nderitu; 'This semester I'm taking zoology, psychology, scripture, English composition, modern European history, and sports. It's quite a bit of work, enough to keep my little brain busy.'..The education was broad-based and, on reflection, quite liberal.”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed

“Gli alberi sono stati una parte essenziale della mia vita e mi hanno insegnato tantissime cose. Sono simboli viventi di pace e speranza. Un albero spinge le radici nel profondo del terreno e tuttavia svetta alto nel cielo. Ci dice che per poter ambire a qualcosa dobbiamo essere ben piantati per terra e che, indipendentemente da quanto in alto arriviviamo, è sempre dalle radici che attingiamo il nostro sostentamento. Serve e ricordare a tutti noi che abbiamo avuto successo nella vita che non possiamo dimenticare da dove siamo venuti. Significa che non importa quanto diventiamo potenti o quanti premi riceviamo: la possibilità, la forza e la capacità di raggiungere i nostri obiettivi dipendono esclusivamente dalle persone, da tutti quelli che lavorano nell'ombra, che sono la terra su cui noi cresciamo, le spalle che ci sorreggono.”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed

“Non siate timorosi di parlare, quando sapete di essere nel giusto. La paura non è mai stata fonte di sicurezza. Parlate chiaramente e lottate per i vostri diritti, finché potete.”
― Wangari Maathai, The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience

“the reality is that mother tongues are extremely important as vehicles of communication and carriers of culture and knowledge, wisdom and history. when they are maligned and educated people are encouraged to look down on them, people are robbed of a vital part of their heritage.”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed

“You would see me there now, cultivating the earth and carrying firewood on my back up the hills to my home, where I would light a fire and cook the evening meal. I would not tell stories, because they have been replaced by books, the radio, and television”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed

“Non siate timorosi di parlare, quando sapete di essere nel giusto. La paura non è mai stata fonte di sicurezza. Parlate chiaramente e lottate per i vostri diritti, finchè potete.”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed

“In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness.”
― Wangari Maathai

“Gli alberi sono stati una parte essenziale della mia vita e mi hanno insegnato tantissime cose. Sono simboli viventi di pace e speranza. Un albero spinge le radici nel profondo del terreno e tuttavia svetta alto nel cielo. Ci dice che per poter ambire a qualcosa dobbiamo essere ben piantati per terra e che, indipendentemente da quanto in alto arriviviamo, è sempre dalle radici che attingiamo il nostro
sostentamento. Serve e ricordare a tutti noi che abbiamo avuto successo nella vita che non possiamo dimenticare da dove siamo venuti. Significa che non importa quanto diventiamo potenti o quanti
premi riceviamo: la possibilità, la forza e la capacità di raggiungere i nostri obiettivi dipendono esclusivamente dalle persone, da tutti
quelli che lavorano nell'ombra, che sono la terra su cui noi cresciamo, le spalle che ci sorreggono.”
― Wangari Maathai, Unbowed