If religion and science could be united on the common ground of biological conservation, the problem would be soon solved. If there is any moral precept shared by people of all beliefs, it is that we owe ourselves and future generations a beautiful, rich, and healthful environment.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of uniting science and religion for environmental conservation.
E. O. Wilson's quote highlights the need for collaboration between religious and scientific communities to address the urgent issue of environmental preservation. It suggests that there is a universal moral responsibility among people of all beliefs to ensure a healthy and beautiful planet for future generations, indicating that both religion and science can play vital roles in fostering conservation efforts.
In practice
During a seminar on climate change, this quote serves as a reminder of the shared responsibilities of all belief systems.
Consider the nematode roundworm, the most abundant of all animals. Four out of five animals on Earth are nematode worms β if all solid materials except nematode worms were to be eliminated, you could still see the ghostly outline of most of it in nematode worms.
Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.
The worst thing that will probably happen-in fact is already well underway-is not energy depletion, economic collapse, conventional war, or the expansion of totalitarian governments. As terrible as these catastrophes would be for us, they can be repaired in a few generations. The one process now going on that will take millions of years to correct is loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly our descendants are least likely to forgive us.
Humanity today is like a waking dreamer, caught between the fantasies of sleep and the chaos of the real world. The mind seeks but cannot find the precise place and hour. We have created a Star Wars civilization, with Stone Age emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology. We thrash about. We are terribly confused by the mere fact of our existence, and a danger to ourselves and to the rest of life.
Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.
An Armageddon is approaching at the beginning of the third millennium. But it is not the cosmic war and fiery collapse of mankind foretold in sacred scripture. It is the wreckage of the planet by an exuberantly plentiful and ingenious humanity.
Climate change could produce a lot of misery and waste without necessarily leading to large-scale armed conflict, which depends more on ideology and bad governance than on resource scarcity.
We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation.
Nature abhors a vacuum, and if I can only walk with sufficient carelessness I am sure to be filled.
The soil of their native land is dear to all the hearts of mankind.
We owe it to each other - and to our children and grandchildren - to leave our planet in a better state than when we found it.
Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn, and to sing at dusk, was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated.
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