It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Capitalism’s grow-or-die imperative stands radically at odds with ecology’s imperative of interdependence and limit. The two imperatives can no longer coexist with each other; nor can any society founded on the myth that they can be reconciled hope to survive. Either we will establish an ecological society or society will go under for everyone, irrespective of his or her status.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote contrasts the principles of capitalism and ecology, suggesting that their clash endangers society's survival.
Ursula K. Le Guin emphasizes the fundamental conflict between capitalism's relentless pursuit of growth and the ecological understanding of interdependence and limits. She argues that these two ideologies are incompatible, and suggests that either society must adopt an ecological framework to thrive or face unavoidable collapse. Le Guin's message speaks to the urgent need for a shift in societal values to ensure a sustainable future.
Themes
CapitalismEcologyInterdependenceSocietySustainability
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about environmental policies, one could reference this quote to highlight the necessity of ecological considerations over profit.
More from Ursula K. Le Guin
All quotes →In reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every word of it. Finally, when we're done with it, we may find - if it's a good novel - that we're a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have changed a little... But it's very hard to say just what we learned, how we were changed.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Reason is a faculty far larger than mere objective force. When either the political or the scientific discourse announces itself as the voice of reason, it is playing God, and should be spanked and stood in the corner.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
When he found that the administrators were upset, he laughed. “Do they expect students not to be anarchists?” he said. “What else can the young be? When you are on the bottom, you must organize from the bottom up
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
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whose steps were a restless substitute for flight.
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