Wangari Maathai

"When we honor the Earth, we honor ourselves and all life."

"You cannot protect the environment unless you empower people, you inform them, and you ensure that whatever they do is their own decision."

"In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground."

"We owe it to ourselves and to the next generation to conserve the environment so that we can pass on our natural resources and cultural heritages."

"You cannot enslave a mind that knows itself, that values itself, that understands itself."

"When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope."

"The greatest threat to our freedom and our democracy is a government that believes it is above the law."

"I cannot rest while there is poverty in this world and people are hungry."

"In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught."

"As the nature of the forest is to grow, so the nature of humanity is to grow."

"You cannot defeat people who are determined to be free."

"The choice of what we consume is a choice we make every single day."

"When we see the injustices and the corruption, we must act."

"Our daughters and sons deserve to inherit a world that is whole and healthy."

"I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear."

"The environment is integral to our survival, not just a nice thing to have."

"Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want to live in."

"It is hard to speak about the importance of the environment and at the same time to be part of the system that is destroying it."

"We cannot tire or give up. We owe it to the present and to the future generations of all species to rise to this challenge."

"The seeds of freedom are the same as the seeds of life."

"When we chop down the last tree, we will realize that money cannot be eaten."

"I stand before you not as an expert but as a voice for the trees, for the animals, and for the people who have no voice."

"It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference."

"In the process of planting trees, we plant hope, we plant peace, and we plant love."

"You cannot separate the rights of the environment from the rights of the individual."

"The military establishment is destroying the environment."

"We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims."

"Democracy does not guarantee environmental protection. What it does is allow people to fight for environmental protection."

"In the end, conservation of our wildlife and nature can only come about when the people of this land feel that they own it."

"You bring your whole self to the work you do, and the work you do becomes an expression of who you are."