David R. Brower Quotes

Powerful David R. Brower for Daily Growth

About David R. Brower

David Robert Brower (1929-2000) was an influential American environmentalist, wilderness preservationist, and founder of Friends of the Earth (FOE), one of the world's most respected grassroots environmental organizations. Born on October 26, 1929, in San Francisco, California, Brower spent his early life exploring the natural beauty of California and developing a deep love for the outdoors. Brower's environmental activism began in the 1950s when he served as the executive director of the Sierra Club. Under his leadership, the organization grew significantly and played a crucial role in halting construction of the Hetch Hetchy Dam within Yosemite National Park. This landmark victory shaped Brower's approach to environmental activism – focusing on direct action, education, and collaboration with communities affected by development projects. In 1969, Brower co-founded Friends of the Earth (FOE) to address global environmental issues. FOE quickly became a powerful voice for the environment, advocating for clean water, renewable energy, and sustainable agriculture. Through FOE, Brower influenced numerous environmental policies and campaigns, including the banning of DDT and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Brower's life and work were marked by a strong conviction that humanity must live in harmony with nature. He once said, "The task is never finished; success only means that new issues will arise to take the place of those we have resolved." Despite his many accomplishments, Brower remained a humble and dedicated advocate for the environment until his death on September 9, 2000. His legacy continues to inspire environmental activists worldwide, reminding us all that every action matters in protecting our planet.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The natural world is a common treasury for all. The land, the water, the minerals, and the air belong to no man, and can be alienated from none; they are the inheritance of the whole people."

David R. Brower's quote underscores the idea that nature, as a shared resource, belongs to all humanity, rather than being the exclusive property of individuals or groups. He emphasizes that natural resources like land, water, minerals, and air are collective inheritance, meaning they should be preserved and utilized equitably for the benefit of everyone, not just a select few. This perspective underscores the importance of environmental conservation, sustainable resource management, and social justice in preserving our planet's precious ecosystems for future generations.


"In essence, if we use up the resources faster than they can be replenished, we are stealing from future generations."

This quote highlights the intergenerational impact of our resource consumption. It suggests that if we exhaust natural resources at a faster rate than they can regenerate, we are essentially depriving future generations of those same resources. It's a call to be mindful of our actions today and consider their long-term effects on the planet and its ability to support life in the future.


"The preservation of the environment is not a communist or a liberal issue, it's a quality-of-life issue and should be treated as such by all politicians."

This quote emphasizes that environmental preservation transcends political ideologies and is instead a fundamental aspect of improving overall quality of life for everyone. Regardless of whether one identifies as liberal, conservative, or anything in between, the health and sustainability of our environment impacts us all. Politicians from all sides should prioritize environmental issues to ensure a better future for all citizens.


"There is still time to take action – but only just. The most important thing we can do now is make sure our leaders understand that we expect them to take action against the climate crisis."

This quote emphasizes the urgency of addressing the climate crisis, as David R. Brower suggests there's a narrow window of opportunity left for effective intervention. The message encourages people to mobilize and express their expectations towards leaders, demanding decisive action against global warming and its devastating impacts on our planet.


"The natural world is the artifact of a billion years of experimentation by evolution, and it is a work of art far beyond anything conceived by human beings."

This quote suggests that the natural world, with its intricate ecosystems, biodiversity, and geological formations, is the result of billions of years of evolutionary experimentation and development, much like a work of art created over an extended period through continuous innovation, refinement, and adaptation. Just as a piece of art reflects the creativity, ingenuity, and complexity inherent in human thought, the natural world showcases the genius and adaptability of life on Earth. It underscores the idea that nature, with its beauty, balance, and harmony, is far beyond anything humans could conceive or create, demonstrating the awe-inspiring power of evolution.


The risk presented by these lethal wastes is like no other risk, and we should not be expected to accept it or to project it into the future in order for manufacturers and utilities to make a dollar killing now.

- David R. Brower

Other, Like, Wastes, Manufacturers

I don't think we have very good records about what they were thinking except, as I pointed out earlier today, that they did invent our political system.

- David R. Brower

Think, Records, Very, Pointed

They simply don't know that much about what they're doing. There isn't enough control. There isn't enough capability in ordinary people to tinker with such a complicated piece of machinery.

- David R. Brower

Control, Doing, About, Tinker

The more we pour the big machines, the fuel, the pesticides, the herbicides, the fertilizer and chemicals into farming, the more we knock out the mechanism that made it all work in the first place.

- David R. Brower

Big, More, Knock, Pesticides

I sort of kept my hand in writing and went to work for the Sierra Club in '52, walked the plank there in '69, founded Friends of the Earth and the League of Conservation Voters after that.

- David R. Brower

Work, Voters, Sierra, Plank

I believe that the average guy in the street will give up a great deal, if he really understands the cost of not giving it up. In fact, we may find that, while we're drastically cutting our energy consumption, we're actually raising our standard of living.

- David R. Brower

Average, Deal, Standard, Consumption

We are at the edge of an abyss and we're close to being irrevocably lost.

- David R. Brower

Lost, Edge, Being, Irrevocably

What's even more unsettling is the way these people hide what they're doing from the public. They strip the labels off miracle wheat when they ship it, for instance, and say, 'Watch out. Don't plant too much and don't depend on it too much.'

- David R. Brower

Doing, Depend, Instance, Wheat

It's like turning the space program over to the Long Island Railroad.

- David R. Brower

Railroad, Over, Long Island, Space Program

I was actually telling people that - by harnessing the atom - we could enter a new era of unlimited power that would do away with the need to dam our beautiful streams.

- David R. Brower

New, Away, Telling, Streams

All I know about thermal pollution is that if we continue our present rate of growth in electrical energy consumption it will simply take, by the year 2000, all our freshwater streams to cool the generators and reactors.

- David R. Brower

Pollution, Year, About, Streams

What happens when the guy who runs the reactor gets out of bed wrong or decides, for some reason, that he wants to override his instruction sheet some afternoon?

- David R. Brower

Reason, Bed, Some, Runs

Some otherwise sane scientists have seriously proposed that we tuck this deadly garbage under the edges of drifting continents but how can they be sure the moving land masses will climb over the waste and not just push it forward?

- David R. Brower

Climb, Some, Deadly, Proposed

We've got to search back to our last known safe landmark. I can't say exactly where, but I think it's back there at the start of the Industrial Revolution, we began applying energy in vast amounts to tools with which we began tearing the environment apart.

- David R. Brower

Back, I Think, Got, Landmark

The Sierra Club is a very good and a very powerful force for conservation and, as a matter of fact, has grown faster since I left than it was growing while I was there! It must be doing something right.

- David R. Brower

Doing, Fact, Very, Powerful Force

There are many different kinds of radioactive waste and each has its own half-life so, just to be on the safe side and to simplify matters, I base my calculations on the worst one and that's plutonium.

- David R. Brower

Waste, Side, Radioactive, Base

I began working with the John Muir Institute and then started helping found Friends of the Earth organizations here and there in other countries. That pretty well brings us up to the present.

- David R. Brower

Here, Pretty, Other, Institute

Yet another proposal would have us rocket the waste into the sun, but, as you're probably aware, about one in ten of our space shots doesn't quite make it out of the earth's gravitational field.

- David R. Brower

Rocket, Another, About, Gravitational

Perhaps most ridiculous of all is the suggestion that we 'keep' our radioactive garbage for the use of our descendants. This 'solution', I think, requires an immediate poll of the next 20,000 generations.

- David R. Brower

Think, Next, I Think, Suggestion

It's very hard for me to know what to say about fusion right now, inasmuch as it is not yet scientifically feasible. I just can't understand how so many people are able to predict so much about something that still isn't scientifically possible.

- David R. Brower

How, Very, About, Inasmuch

I will say this, - though: If it is true that fusion will put unlimited amounts of energy into our hands, then I'm worried. Our record on this score is extremely poor.

- David R. Brower

Hands, Will, Though, Worried

A great deal of pressure was then built up to remove me from the club and my resignation was, finally, a forced one.

- David R. Brower

Deal, Built, Forced, Great Deal

Apollo 13, as you may remember, gave us a reactor that is bubbling away right now somewhere in the Pacific. It's supposed to be bubbling away on the moon, but it's in the Pacific Ocean instead.

- David R. Brower

Away, Pacific Ocean, May, Pacific

It is absolutely imperative that we protect, preserve and pass on this genetic heritage for man and every other living thing in as good a condition as we received it.

- David R. Brower

Living, Other, Genetic, Imperative

Perhaps we'll realize that each of us has not one vote but ten thousand or a million.

- David R. Brower

Ten, Million, Perhaps, Vote

We tried burying the waste at sea and the concrete cannisters that held it cracked open.

- David R. Brower

Waste, Concrete, Burying, Cracked

Is the minor convenience of allowing the present generation the luxury of doubling its energy consumption every 10 years worth the major hazard of exposing the next 20,000 generations to this lethal waste?

- David R. Brower

Generation, Next, Waste, Consumption

At that time a senator who was on the Joint Committee of Atomic Energy said rather quietly, 'You know, we're having a little problem with waste these days.' I didn't know what he meant then, but I know now.

- David R. Brower

Problem, Rather, Joint, Senator

When people say, 'You're not being realistic,' they're just trying to tag some thoughts that they can't otherwise handle.

- David R. Brower

Thoughts, Some, Otherwise, Realistic

'Realistic' is a loaded word for me. Anyone who uses the word 'realistic' is all bad.

- David R. Brower

Bad, Loaded, Anyone, Realistic

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