David Christian Quotes

What motivates me is the conviction that our problems are mainly a consequence of a lack of holistic understanding of the man-made system in which we are entwined.

I think the future of this planet depends on humans, not technology, and we already have the knowledge - we're kind of at the endgame with knowledge. But we're nowhere near the endgame when it comes to our perception. We still have one foot in the dark ages.

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.

Through writing, Homo sapiens then became the first species to preserve learning, enabling knowledge to grow, ultimately at an exponential pace. Collective learning over time then became the source of technological improvement, a process that could move much faster than evolution.

The world itself is already a great textbook.

Far from feeling dwarfed by the vast reaches and energy of the cosmos, what we really learn is that we are the most remarkable and complicated product of cosmic evolution, and our potential is unlimited.

We all benefit from the shared experiences of our partners from around the world. Our education, health care, business and public sector institutions rely on these relationships to deliver on their missions every single day.

I think very early on, my sisters and I understood the value of nature and what it can do for us, and that we are part of nature. Even if we are all seemingly intelligent beings and we're at the top of the food chain, that doesn't mean that we have to remove ourselves from nature.

What I wonder most about the Anthropocene is not when did it start - but when, and how, will it end? Will it end? Or is it possible that our own growing awareness of our role on Earth can itself play a pivotal role in shaping the outcome toward one that we would desire?

Sustainability makes good business sense, and we're all on the same team at the end of the day. That's the truth about the human condition.

We've been playing in the sandbox of creation for millions of years. We ruin one environment, we move on to the next - manifest destiny. Now it's hitting us collectively: Our mother's life is in our hands.

At its deepest level, I think teaching is about bringing people into communion with each other, with yourself as the teacher, and with the subject you are teaching.

Make war not on terrorism but on ignorance, on sickness and on environmental degradation.

The growth of understanding follows an ascending spiral rather than a straight line.

I love ambiguity. People are that way. People are very hard to work out. No one is just strong or just fragile, or anything like that.

It may seem daunting, but I am a prisoner of hope. We are more connected than ever before, we have more knowledge, and there are solutions if we work together. Today's technology is a great asset in encouraging global cooperation and understanding.

So let's raise the tone of the debate. Too often at the moment we look like schoolchildren squabbling over a toy - our most precious toy, the Earth. And the danger is that as we pull in opposite directions in our global tug of war, the Earth will end up broken - or at least unable to sustain human life. That is the worst case scenario - or maybe, from the Earth's point of view, the best.

Life is a thread that someone entangled.

I went to graduate film school at NYU, and at first I didn't get a degree, because I took a scholarship that was supposed to pay my tuition, and I used it to make a film. For the longest time, I never actually graduated. And about 70 percent of the things I learned there I had to unlearn, but 30 percent was really valuable. It's like Mark Twain said, "Don't let school get in the way of your education."

We have usurped many of the powers we once ascribed to God.

To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous.

Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren't.

One planet, one experiment.

Education brings sustainability to all the development goals, and literacy is the foundation of all learning. It provides individuals with the skills to understand the world and shape it, to participate in democratic processes and have a voice, and also to strengthen their cultural identity.

Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous.