Learning to be silent is far more difficult and far more important than learning to recite prayers.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I Of ConstantinopleRead
... the ecological problem of our times demands a radical reevaluation of how we see the entire world; it demands a different interpretation of matter and the world, a new attitude of humankind toward nature, and a new understanding of how we acquire and make use of our material goods.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the need for a fundamental change in our perception and interaction with the environment.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I highlights the urgent necessity to rethink our relationship with nature and material possessions. He calls for a transformative shift in how humanity views the world, advocating for a deeper understanding and respect for ecological systems, which is crucial in addressing the pressing environmental issues we face today.
In practice
During a climate change conference, this quote can be used to emphasize the need for a new mindset towards environmental conservation.
Learning to be silent is far more difficult and far more important than learning to recite prayers.
Arrogance and fanaticism cause the hardening of positions taken and entrenchment can only lead to a dead end.
As people flock to urban centers where ground space is limited, cities with green walls and roofs and skyscraper farms offer improved health and well-being, renewable resources, reliable food supply, and relief to the environment.
There, by the starlit fences The wanderer halts and hears My soul that lingers sighing About the glimmering weirs.
Give me a Wildness whose glance no civilization can endure.
Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does nature because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous.
If the world were to end tomorrow and we could choose to save only one thing as the explanation and memorial to who we were, then we couldn't do better than the Natural History Museum, although it wouldn't contain a single human. The systematic Linnean order, the vast inquisitiveness and range of collated knowledge and beauty would tell all that is the best of us.
In nature we find not only that which is expedient, but also everything which is not so inexpedient as to endanger the existence of the species.
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