We cannot cheat on DNA. We cannot get round photosynthesis. We cannot say I am not going to give a damn about phytoplankton. All these tiny mechanisms provide the preconditions of our planetary life. To say we do not care is to say in the most literal sense that "we choose death."
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of fundamental natural processes for life on Earth and the consequences of ignoring them.
Barbara Ward's quote reflects the vital interconnections between various natural processes and life on our planet. By highlighting essential elements like DNA, photosynthesis, and phytoplankton, she insists that neglecting or dismissing these processes equates to a disregard for life itself. It serves as a warning that understanding and respecting the basic mechanisms that sustain life is crucial, as to turn a blind eye to them is essentially choosing death for ourselves and our environment.
In practice
In a speech on environmental conservation, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of respecting natural processes.
On the one hand, we are faced with the stewardship of this beautiful, subtle, incredibly delicate, fragile planet. On the other, we confront the destiny of our fellow man, our brothers. How can we say that we are followers of Christ if this dual responsibility does not seem to us the essence and heart of our religion?
The saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury.
Is childhood ever long enough, or a happy time, or even a beautiful summer day? All of these carry the seeds of the same fierce mystery that we call death.
But what if I should discover that the least amongst them all, the poorest of all beggars, the most impudent of all offenders, yea the very fiend himself— that these are within me, and that I myself stand in need of the alms of my own kindness, that I myself am the enemy who must be loved— what then?
In a crystal we have clear evidence of the existence of a formative life principle, and though we cannot understand the life of a crystal, it is nonetheless a living being
The world does not speak. Only we do. The world can, once we have programmed ourselves with a language, cause us to hold beliefs. But it cannot propose a language for us to speak. Only other human beings can do that.
A town is a thing like a colonial animal. A town has a nervous system and a head and shoulders and feet. A town is a thing separate from all other towns alike. And a town has a whole emotion. How news travels through a town is a mystery not easily to be solved. News seems to move faster than small boys can scramble and dart to tell it, faster than women can call it over the fences.
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