Deep Ecology Quotes

“Let’s face it, our representative democracy has broken down. Our government primarily represents the big money boys and stacks the deck against reform movements. Playing only by the system’s rules limits you.”
― Dave Foreman, Defending the Earth: A Dialogue Between Murray Bookchin and Dave Foreman

“The history of cruelty inflicted in the name of morals has convinced me that the increase of identification might achieve what moralizing cannot: beautiful actions.”
― Arne Næss

“When the anthropologist asked the Kwakiutl for a map of their coast, they told him stories:

"Here? Salmon gather. Here? Sea otter camps. Here seal sleep. Here we say body covered with mouths."

How can a place have a name? A man, a woman may have a name, but they die.

We are a story until we die. Then our names are very dangerous.

A place is a story happening many times.”
― Ralph Metzner, Green Psychology: Transforming our Relationship to the Earth

“Many Indigenous Peoples understand that, as humans, we need a healthy foundation based on a sacred connection to the land. They know that genuine sustainability entails living in accordance with values rooted in natural laws and teachings that acknowledge the sacredness of nature; these ways of life involve sacred duties and responsibilities.”
― Juan Pablo Quiñonez, Collapse: Navigating Civilization's Predicaments With Wisdom and Courage

“We are the dust of the stars and the rays of sunlight shining on our skin. We are the soil where plants grow. We are the oxygen inhaled and the carbon dioxide exhaled. We are the water flowing through our own veins and within each of our cells. We are the energy tingling in our chests and limbs. We are the present moment. We are our ancestors and our descendants. We are the ripples left on this Earth, and thus, we are the Earth.”
― Juan Pablo Quiñonez, Collapse: Navigating Civilization's Predicaments With Wisdom and Courage