E. F. Schumacher Quotes

It is smarter to borrow from nature than to reinvent the wheels.

The outgrowth of conservation, the inevitable result, is national efficiency.

Fortunately, nature is as generous with its problems as Nobel with his fortune. The more we know, the more aware we are of what we know not.

Environmentalism opposes reckless innovation and makes conservation the central order of business.

Nature has provided us a spectacular toolbox. The toolbox exists. An architect far better and smarter than us has given us that toolbox, and we now have the ability to use it.

Sustainability, ensuring the future of life on Earth, is an infinite game, the endless expression of generosity on behalf of all.

He plants trees to benefit another generation.

I work with nature, although in completely new terms.

My focus is not on solving nature's deeper mysteries. It is on using nature's deeper mysteries to solve important societal problems.

God gave the world to men in common; but since he gave it them for their benefit and the greatest conveniences of life they were capable to draw from it, it cannot be supposed that he meant it should always remain common and uncultivated.

Pollution is nothing but resources we're not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we've been ignorant of their value.

The goal here is to triple the lifespan of human beings. We can't have triple the natural resources, so we need to be more efficient.

Waste does not exist in nature because ecosystems reuse everything that grows in a never-ending cycle of efficiency and purpose.

The environment is where we all meet; where all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share.

You are worried about what man has done and is doing to this magical planet that God gave us. And I share your concern. What is a conservative after all but one who conserves, one who is committed to protecting and holding close the things by which we live...And we want to protect and conserve the land on which we live - our countryside, our rivers and mountains, our plains and meadows and forests. This is our patrimony. This is what we leave to our children. And our great moral responsibility is to leave it to them either as we found it or better than we found it.

The bat­tle we have fought, and are still fight­ing for the forests is a part of the eter­nal con­flict between right and wrong, and we can­not expect to see the end of it. …So we must count on watch­ing and striv­ing for these trees, and should always be glad to find any­thing so surely good and noble to strive for.

Before you kill something make sure you have something better to replace it with.

What permaculturists are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet. We don't know what details of a truly sustainable future are going to be like, but we need options, we need people experimenting in all kinds of ways and permaculturists are one of the critical gangs that are doing that.

I believe in a sound, strong environmental policy that protects the health of our people and a wise stewardship of our nation's natural resources.

A functioning eco-system is a human need.

National parks and reserves are an integral aspect of intelligent use of natural resources. It is the course of wisdom to set aside an ample portion of our natural resources as national parks and reserves, thus ensuring that future generations may know the majesty of the earth as we know it today.

We Americans think we are pretty good! We want to build a house, we cut down some trees. We want to build a fire, we dig a little coal. But when we run out of all these things, then we will find out just how good we really are.

Ecology is the overall science of which economics is a minor speciality.

Nothing in nature takes more than what it needs

When you're fast when you're shooting, there are great things that you discover. By being fast you also sometimes get more time to experiment.