Charles Kettering Quotes

The need to incorporate longer term time scales into our societal choices is very real—and right in the lap of our generation.

The most important question we have to deal with is a combination of population control and the control of our environment - how to utilize the world in as effective a way as we can for the future of mankind.

The only people who have the long view are some scientists and some science fiction writers.

We, the generation that faces the next century, can add the solemn injunction 'If we don't do the impossible, we shall be faced with the unthinkable.'

With the continued support of citizens who refuse to accept inaction at the expense of future generations, we will lead the world toward a sustainable future.

I'm not in favor of just taking short-term isolated situations and depleting our resources to keep our climate just the way it is today.

The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved.

We're so used to thinking in the short term, and the minute you speak in more long-term language then you tend to get dismissed as utopian and so on. We have a real problem here in making long-term thinking respectable

The world must now either accept long-term chaos for the sake of short term comforts or make short term sacrifices for the sake of long term comforts.

Governments, however, must think not only of the present, but of the rights of future generations.

One of the hardest things in politics is getting a democracy to deal with something now where the payoff is long term or the price of inaction is decades away.

Rather than rewarding today’s voters with benefits financed by future generations, as Congress typically does, solving the climate problem will require costly actions now to protect those who will follow us.

We have to prove to the disinherited majority of the world that ecology and conservation will not work against their interest but will bring an improvement in their lives.

Often, sustainability is discussed only in the context of energy. Energy sustainability is essential - but the word has a much broader meaning. It means long-term thinking about how we manage our businesses, invest in social spending, and plan for the future. This requires vision and leadership, and it requires citizen engagement.

Most people - including business leaders - want a healthy future for their children.

I plant a lot of trees. I am a great believer in planting things for future generations. I loathe the now culture where you just live for today.

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

Like I said, I'm more worried long term about the environmental issues then the use of arms.

We're not going to persuade people in the developing world to go without, but neither can we afford a planet on which everyone lives like an American. Billions more people living in suburbs and driving SUVs to shopping malls is a recipe for planetary suicide. We can't even afford to continue that way of life ourselves.

I think my message to the politicians who have within their power the ability to make change is, 'Do you really, really not care about the future of your great-grandchildren? Because if we let the world continue to be destroyed the way we are now, what's the world going to be like for your great-grandchildren?'

The human race has had long experience and a fine tradition in surviving adversity. But we now face a task for which we have little experience, the task of surviving prosperity.

The world today is changing rapidly, and we are helping to make it better for our children's future.

All the conservation efforts in the world won't be enough to make a dent in the oncoming sustainability crisis our planet faces.

It angers me when sustainability gets used as a buzz word. For 90 percent of the world, sustainability is a matter of survival.

Sustainability is the key to our survival on this planet and will also determine success on all levels.