Hold up a mirror and ask yourself what you are capable of doing, and what you really care about. Then take the initiative - don't wait for someone else to ask you to act.
Sylvia EarleRead
As a child, I was aware of the widely-held attitude that the ocean is so big, so resilient that we could use the sea as the ultimate place to dispose of anything we did not want, from garbage and nuclear wastes to sludge from sewage to entire ships that had reached the end of their useful life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights humanity's careless attitude toward the ocean and its resources.
Sylvia Earle's quote reflects the alarming perception that the vastness and resilience of the ocean allow us to treat it as a dumping ground for waste and unwanted materials. This mindset underscores a critical environmental issue, emphasizing the need for stewardship and awareness regarding the impact of human activities on the marine ecosystem and the health of the planet.
Themes
OceanEnvironmentWasteResponsibilityNaturePollution
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about environmental conservation, one might say, 'As Sylvia Earle pointed out, we need to rethink our relationship with the ocean as not just a dumping ground.'
More from Sylvia Earle
All quotes →I'm haunted by the thought of what Ray Anderson calls 'tomorrow's child,' asking why we didn't do something on our watch to save sharks and bluefin tuna and squids and coral reefs and the living ocean while there still was time. Well, now is that time.
Sylvia EarleRead
Even if you never have the chance to see or touch the ocean, the ocean touches you with every breath you take, every drop of water you drink, every bite you consume. Everyone, everywhere is inextricably connected to and utterly dependent upon the existence of the sea.
Sylvia EarleRead
There is a terribly terrestrial mindset about what we need to do to take care of the planet-as if the ocean somehow doesn't matter or is so big, so vast that it can take care of itself, or that there is nothing that we could possibly do that we could harm the ocean...We are learning otherwise.
Sylvia EarleRead
No water, no life. No blue, no green.
Sylvia EarleRead
I have come up at the end of a dive, and the boat was not where I left it. I had to take care of a buddy who did panic. But I was confident the boat would come back.
Sylvia EarleRead
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