Wallace Stegner Quotes

It is the abiding concern of thinking people to preserve what keeps men human-to save our contact with nature of which we are a part.

The scenic ideals that surround even our national parks are carriers of a nostalgia for heavenly bliss and eternal calmness.

Conservation is key to preserving many of the world's natural beauty spots, so do your best to help by keeping to designated footpaths and being a discerning souvenir collector.

The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders.

People don't want to go to the dump and have a picnic, they want to go out to a beautiful place and enjoy their day. And so I think our job is to try to take the environment, take what the good Lord has given us, and expand upon it or enhance it, without destroying it.

Continuity is at the heart of conservatism: ecology serves that heart.

If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have tried to make people remember what the Earth is meant to look like.

I love nature. I'm not going to do anything to detract from it.

You can't just let nature run wild.

We need to defend the fruits of our land.

The Congress, the Administration and the public all share a profound commitment to the rescue of our natural environment, and the preservation of the Earth as a place both habitable by and hospitable to man.

I just have to believe that with love for our natural heritage and a firm resolve to preserve it with wisdom and care, we can and will give the American land to our children, not impaired, but enhanced. And in doing this, we'll honor the great and loving God who gave us this land in the first place.

I can never get over when you're on the beach how beautiful the sand looks and the water washes it away and straightens it up and the trees and the grass all look great. I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want to own.

If I could go back to a point in history to try to get things to come out differently, I would go back and tell moses to go up the mountain again and get the other tablet. Because the Ten Commandments just tell us what we are supped to do with one another, not a word about our relationship to the earth. Genesis starts with these commands: multiply, replenish the earth, and subdue it. We have multiplied very well, we have replenished our populations very well, we have subdued it all too well, and we don't have any other instruction.

It is our collective and individual responsibility to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live.

God bless America. Let's try to save some of it.

The road to conservation is paved with good intentions that often prove futile, or even dangerous, due to a lack of understanding of either land or economic land use.

There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country.

It would be worth the while if in each town there were a committee appointed to see that the beauty of the town received no detriment. If we have the largest boulder in the county, then it should not belong to an individual, nor be made into door-steps.

Admittedly, we must move ahead with the development of our land resources. Likewise, our technology must be refined. But in the long run life will succeed only in a life-giving environment, and we can no longer afford unnecessary sacrifices of living space and natural landscape to 'progress.'

Perseverance is my biggest lesson. When I started to get involved in environmental protection some years ago, my people did not take it seriously and they never considered it important. But today, people look at what I do and they truly recognize those efforts, and eventually they join you as "environmental activists" too!

That is all the National Parks are about. Use, but do no harm.

The concept of conservation is a far truer sign of civilization than that spoilation of a continent which we once confused with progress.

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.

The most patriotic thing you can do is to take care of the environment and try to live sustainably.