David W. Orr Quotes

#1. The planetary emergency unfolding around us is, first and foremost ... a crisis of thought, values, perceptions, ideas and judgments. In other words, it is a crisis of mind, which makes it a crisis of those institutions which purport to improve minds.

David W. Orr

#2. Journey of the Universe is eloquent, accessible, and powerful, and conveys a sense of wonder ranging from the cosmos to the microcosm
in itself a considerable achievement. This is one of the most compelling and inspiring works I've read in a long time.

David W. Orr

#3. The dialogue about sustainability is about a change in the human trajectory that will require us to rethink old assumptions and engage the large questions of the human condition that some presume to have been solved once and for all.

David W. Orr

#4. A summons home to the nature that nourishes the best human qualities of creativity, intelligence, connection, and compassion.

David W. Orr

#5. No institutions in modern society are better equipped to catalyze the necessary transition to a sustainable world than colleges and universities. They have access to the leaders of tomorrow and the leaders of today. What they do matters to the wider public.

David W. Orr

#6. "Our experience of the world is being impoverished to the extent that it is being rendered artificial and prepackaged."

David W. Orr

#7. Real security, in other words, is inseparable from issues of energy policy; education; public health; preservation of soils, forests, and waters; and broadly based, sustainable prosperity.

David W. Orr

#8. Our true destiny ... is a world built from the bottom up by competent citizens living in solid communities, engaged in and by their places.

David W. Orr

#9. What can educators do to foster real intelligence?..We can attempt to teach the things that one might imagine the earth would teach us: silence, humility, holiness, connectedness, courtesy, beauty, celebration, giving, restoration, obligation, and wildness.

David W. Orr

#10. There is a myth that the purpose of education is to give one the means for upward mobility and success. The plain truth is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does need desperately more peacemakers, healers, restorers, story tellers, and lovers of every shape and form.

David W. Orr