Quotes About Nature

There is more hope in a heather rose than in all the tons of Teutonic philosophy.

Culture tends to argue that it forbids only that which is unnatural. But from a biological perspective, nothing is unnatural. Whatever is possible is by definition also natural. A truly unnatural behaviour, one that goes against the laws of nature, simply cannot exist, so it would need no prohibition.

Biology enables, Culture forbids.

The romantic contrast between modern industry that "destroys nature" and our ancestors who "lived in harmony with nature" is groundless. Long before the Industrial Revolution, Homo sapiens held the record among all organisms for driving the most plant and animal species to their extinctions. We have the dubious distinction of being the deadliest species in the annals of life.

our DNA still thinks we are in the savannah.

Whatever is possible is by definition also natural.

Homo sapiens has no natural rights, just as spiders, hyenas and chimpanzees have no natural rights.

Many call this process 'the destruction of nature.' But it's not really destruction, it's change. Nature cannot be destroyed.

Homo sapiens look like an ecological serial killer.

Don't believe tree-huggers who claim that our ancestors lived in harmony with nature. Long before the Industrial Revolution, Homo sapiens held the record among all organisms for driving the most plant and animal species to their extinctions. We have the dubious distinction of being the deadliest species in the annals of biology.

Our once green and blue planet is becoming a concrete and plastic shopping centre.

One on one, even ten on ten, we are embarrassingly similar to chimpanzees.

the historical record makes Homo sapiens look like an ecological serial killer. All

Homo sapiens does its best to forget the fact, but it is an animal. And it is doubly important to remember our origins at a time when we seek to turn ourselves into gods.

other organisms are doing quite well. Rats and cockroaches, for example, are in their heyday. These tenacious creatures would probably creep out from beneath the smoking rubble of a nuclear Armageddon, ready and able to spread their DNA. Perhaps 65 million years from now, intelligent rats will look back gratefully on the decimation wrought by humankind, just as we today can thank that dinosaur-busting asteroid.

Well, suppose you observe a pride of lions take down and devour a giraffe. You wait patiently until they're done. But it's still not your turn because first the hyenas and jackals – and you don't dare interfere with them – scavenge the leftovers. Only then would you and your band dare approach the carcass, look cautiously left and right – and dig into the edible tissue that remained.

Next time a mosquito buzzes in your ear, accuse her of unnatural behaviour. If she were well behaved and content with what God gave her, she'd use her wings only as solar panels. The

Eagles, for example, identify thermal columns rising from the ground, spread their giant wings and allow the hot air to lift them upwards. Yet eagles cannot control the location of the columns, and their maximum carrying capacity is strictly proportional to their wingspan.

From a biological perspective, nothing is unnatural. Whatever is possible is by definition natural

Birds fly not because the have a right to fly, but because they have wings.

it is hardly natural for humans to be loyal to millions of utter strangers.

But looking at the historical facts, Homo sapiens most closely resembles an ecological serial killer

The most important thing to know about prehistoric humans is that they were insignificant animals with no more impact on their environment than gorillas, fireflies or jellyfish.

Culture tends to argue that it forbids only that which is unnatural. But from a biological perspective, nothing is unnatural. Whatever is possible is by definition also natural.