David Brower

"The environment is not separate from the economy—it is the foundation of it."

"Every preserved landscape is a victory against the tyranny of the merely profitable."

"The camera does not lie, but careless photographers do."

"We cannot love what we do not know, and we cannot protect what we do not love."

"The challenge of conservation is not technical but moral."

"In the mountains, I found not escape but perspective."

"We have become rich in things and poor in meaning."

"The most radical act is to preserve what the market would destroy."

"Photography revealed to me that truth is more complex than fact."

"We do not need to choose between progress and preservation; we need to redefine progress."

"The wilderness does not ask for much—only that we leave it alone."

"Every species extinction is a library burning, taking knowledge with it forever."

"I have dedicated my life to making the invisible visible and the taken-for-granted precious."

"A landscape that moves us teaches us who we are."

"Conservation begins with the belief that something is worth more alive than dead, wild than tamed."

"We are not stewards of the earth by appointment; we are stewards by necessity."

"The photograph can be a manifesto without words."

"Nature does not negotiate with those who treat it as an adversary."

"We inherit not just land but the responsibility to pass it on undiminished."

"The greatest power of the camera is its ability to show us what we have taken for granted."

"Conservation is an act of faith in the future."

"We have mapped the earth; now we must learn to listen to it."

"The wilderness is a mirror in which we see ourselves as we truly are."

"Every dam represents a choice to value power over presence, efficiency over mystery."

"I photograph to ask questions, not to provide answers."

"The environment is not optional; it is the stage upon which all life performs."

"We have treated the future as a dumping ground for the costs of the present."

"To see truly is to be obligated to act."

"The photograph is a window into what matters."

"Conservation requires us to think beyond the span of our own lives."