“When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse.”
Paul Hawken
more infosource: University of Portland commencement speech, May 3, 2009, full speech here
category: commencement speech, earth, environment, global warming, planet
medium: commencement speech
notes: Paul Hawken's website here
“This planet came with a set of instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, or air, don’t let the earth get overcrowded, and don’t touch the thermostat have been broken.”
Paul Hawken
more infosource: University of Portland commencement speech, May 3, 2009, full speech here
category: commencement speech, earth, environment, global warming, overpopulation, planet
medium: commencement speech
notes: Paul Hawken's website here
“It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time, waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.”
E. B. White
more infosource: Letters of E. B. White, rev. edition edited by Martha White (New York: Harper Perennial, 2007), 596.
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category: goodness, humanity, mess, optimism, planet
medium: letter
notes: letter to Mr. Nadeau dated March 30, 1973
“On what planet do you spend most of your time?…Trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it.”
Barney Frank
more infosource: town hall meeting, Dartmouth, NH, August 18, 2009
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category: comeback, communication, dining room table, planet, politics, reality, town hall meeting
medium: political event
notes: A constituent in the audience asked Barney Frank: “Why do you continue to support a Nazi policy?” Frank responds: “On what planet do you spend most of your time?” He calls her approach “vile, contemptible nonsense.” Frank closes with: “Trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it.”
planet