Elif Batuman Quotes

When you think of all the conflicts we have - whether those conflicts are local, whether they are regional or global - these conflicts are often over the management, the distribution of resources. If these resources are very valuable, if these resources are scarce, if these resources are degraded, there is going to be competition.

We need to quit arguing about whether the glass is half full or half empty - and instead acknowledge that there's not quite enough water to go around.

Our supplies of natural resources are not finite in any economic sense. Nor does past experience give reason to expect natural resources to become more scarce. Rather, if history is any guide, natural resources will progressively become less costly, hence less scarce, and will constitute a smaller proportion of our expenses in future years.

When resources are degraded, we start competing for them, whether it is at the local level in Kenya, where we had tribal clashes over land and water, or at the global level, where we are fighting over water, oil, and minerals. So one way to promote peace is to promote sustainable management and equitable distribution of resources.

We used to live in a world where the price of resources came down steadily, and now the world has changed. You have a great mismatch between finite resources and exponential population growth.

We can't run out of resources. Resources exist when the human mind sees how to use something.

No one ever has the resources they need.

I have often said China is not lacking in material resources. The question is whether we can make full and good use of them.

It's always the organizations that are resource constrained that come up with the good ideas to win.

Since scarcity is the basic economic problem, if it does not exist then there is no reason for my economics course. Devoting time to the study of how people use limited resources to fulfill unlimited wants and needs should help us to discover how to best utilize the resources we have at our disposal.

There is no single theory that is used in economics that considers the finite nature of resources. It's shocking.

Frankly, we don't have the resources to go everywhere and do everything.

Human use of one resource runs squarely against human use of another resource.

The fundamental problem of society is that demands are infinite and resources are always limited

What I said when Otter Creek came up is that we in Montana have a history of giving away our resources. We need to make sure Montana is getting its share.

The optimal use of natural resources can be made only if there is a well-thought-out policy framework for their exploitation towards a particular end use.

Among the most important lessons to be taken from the history of oil is not taking essentials for granted. Conserve oil, but also conserve water. If our Hummers are a red flag in oil, maybe our Jacuzzis are the same for water.

The faculty of using my resources well diminishes when their number grows.

It is much easier to put existing resources to better use, than to develop resources where they do not exist.

A strategy that doesn't take into account resources is doomed to failure.

Because the resources available to the U. S. military will be increasingly limited, the objectives must be too.

We should not be strangling ourselves economically by not utilizing the resources we have been given or by putting them off-limits.

Since 1975, when I entered the Wharton Graduate School, I have belonged to a small group of economists who believe that the world does not contain a limited amount of physical resources. Quite the contrary, I believe that the world is a virtual cornucopia of physical resources.

The raw materials that Australia has in abundance will always be critical to world growth.

Africa's mineral wealth is great; we should co-operate in its development.