The real problems of our planet are not economic or technical, they are philosophical. The philosophy of unbridled materialism is being challenged by events.
E. F. SchumacherRead
A way of life that ever more rapidly depletes the power of the Earth to sustain it and piles up ever more insoluble problems for each succeeding generation can only be called violent.
Interpretation
The quote critiques unsustainable lifestyles that harm the Earth and create problems for future generations.
E. F. Schumacher highlights the destructive impact of modern living on the environment, implying that a lifestyle which consumes resources without considering sustainability is inherently violent. This perspective calls for a profound reevaluation of our relationship with nature and the responsibilities we hold toward future generations.
In practice
During a speech on climate change, this quote could illustrate the urgency of adopting sustainable practices.
The real problems of our planet are not economic or technical, they are philosophical. The philosophy of unbridled materialism is being challenged by events.
The substance of man cannot be measured by Gross National Product.
The printing press is either the greatest blessing or the greatest curse of modern times, sometimes one forgets which it is.
By means of trees, wildlife could be conserved, pollution decreased, and the beauty of our landscapes enhanced. This is the way, or at least one of the ways, to spiritual, moral, and cultural regeneration.
We still have to learn how to live peacefully, not only with our fellow men but also with nature and, above all, with those Higher Powers which have made nature and have made us; for, assuredly, we have not come about by accident and certainly have not made ourselves
The heart of the matter, as I see it, is the stark fact that world poverty is primarily a problem of two million villages, and thus a problem of two thousand million villagers.
Christianity has taken the part of all the weak, the low, the botched; it has made an ideal out of antagonism to all the self preservative instincts of sound life; it has corrupted even the faculties of those natures that are intellectually most vigorous, by representing the highest intellectual values as sinful, as misleading, as full of temptation.
Over the years, I realized there was a Republican philosophy that I liked. And then they lost it. And LIBERTARIANS had more of it. Because what I really believe is, let's spend a little more time leaving everybody alone.
I shall assume that your silence gives consent.
There is only one thing about which I am certain, and this is that there is very little about which one can be certain
We should make the case for the things we love, even if we think that people will misunderstand them. That is why people defend the U.S. Constitution, even though so few really understand the subtle thinking embodied in that document.
Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.
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