The hope of the future lies not in curbing the influence of human occupancy - it is already too late for that - but in creating a better understanding of the extent of that influence and a new ethic for its governance. Aldo Leopold More Quotes by Aldo Leopold More Quotes From Aldo Leopold Whoever invented the word 'grace' must have seen the wing-folding of the plover. Aldo Leopold folding grace wings I now suspect that just as a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer. And perhaps with better cause, for while a buck pulled down by wolves can be replaced in two or three years, a range pulled down by too many deer may fail of replacement in as many decades. Aldo Leopold mountain two years A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct Aldo Leopold hunting hunters peculiar The drama of the sky dance is enacted nightly on hundreds of farms, the owners of which sigh for entertainment, but harbor the illusion that it is to be sought in theaters. They live on the land, but not by the land. Aldo Leopold land sky drama The real jewel of my disease-ridden woodlot is the prothonotary warbler. ... The flash of his gold-and-blue plumage amid the dank decay of the June woods is in itself proof that dead trees are transmuted into living animals, and vice versa. Aldo Leopold real jewels animal Ideas, like men, can become dictators. We Americans have so far escaped regimentation by our rulers, but have we escaped regimentation by our own ideas? I doubt if there exists today a more complete regimentation of the human mind than that accomplished by our self-imposed doctrine of ruthless utilitarianism. Aldo Leopold self men ideas We can be ethical only in relation to something we can see, feel, understand, love, or otherwise have faith in. Aldo Leopold ethical have-faith relation I shall now confess to you that none of those three trout had to be beheaded, or folded double, to fit their casket. What was big was not the trout, but the chance. What was full was not my creel, but my memory. Aldo Leopold trout water memories ...to any one for whom wild things are something more than a pleasant diversion, (conservation) constitutes one of the milestones in moral evolution. Aldo Leopold conservation moral evolution The landscape of any farm is the owner's portrait of himself. Aldo Leopold portraits landscape owners Like all real treasures of the mind, perception can be split into infinitely small fractions without losing its quality. The weeds in a city lot convey the same lesson as the redwoods; the farmer may see in his cow-pasture what may not be vouchsafed to the scientist adventuring in the South Seas. Aldo Leopold weed real sea To look into the eyes of a wolf is to see your own soul - hope you like what you see. Aldo Leopold eye soul looks Too much safety seems to yield only danger in the long run. Aldo Leopold yield running long The rich diversity of the world's cultures reflects a corresponding diversity in the wilds that gave them birth. Aldo Leopold diversity culture world When I call to mind my earliest impressions, I wonder whether the process ordinarily referred to as growing up is not actually a process of growing down; whether experience, so much touted among adults as the thing children lack, is not actually a progressive dilution of the essentials by the trivialities of living. Aldo Leopold growing-up mind children The wind that makes music in November corn is in a hurry. The stalks hum, the loose husks whisk skyward in half-playing swirls, and the wind hurries on.... A tree tries to argue, bare limbs waving, but there is no detaining the wind. Aldo Leopold autumn wind fall Is it possible to preserve the element of Unknown Places in our national life? Is it practicable to do so, without undue loss in economic values? I say 'yes' to both questions. But we must act vigorously and quickly, before the remaining bits of wilderness have disappeared. Aldo Leopold economic-value elements loss Our grandfathers were less well-housed, well-fed, well-clothed than we are. The strivings by which they bettered their lot are also those which deprived us of [Passenger] pigeons. Perhaps we now grieve because we are not sure, in our hearts, that we have gained by the exchange. The gadgets of industry bring us more comforts than the pigeons did, but do they add as much to the glory of the spring? Aldo Leopold nature heart spring Twenty centuries of 'progress' have brought the average citizen a vote, a national anthem, a Ford, a bank account, and a high opinion of himself, but not the capacity to live in high density without befouling and denuding his environment, nor a conviction that such capacity, rather than such density, is the true test of whether he is civilized. Aldo Leopold average civilization science No important change in ethics was ever accomplished without an internal chage in our intellectual emphasis, loyalties, affections, and convictions. Aldo Leopold loyalty important intellectual
