Words of Wisdom — August 31, 2014

Rachel Carson on Environmental Preservation

Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was an American biologist, conservationist, and author. She is most famous for her landmark 1962 book Silent Spring and her influence on the environmentalism movement. She succumbed to breast cancer two years after Silent Spring’s publishing, at the age of 56.

“The real wealth of the Nation lies in the resources of the earth — soil, water, forests, minerals, and wildlife. To utilize them for present needs while insuring their preservation for future generations requires a delicately balanced and continuing program, based on the most extensive research. Their administration is not properly, and cannot be, a matter of politics.”

–Rachel Carson, Letter to the editor, Washington Post (1953); quoted in Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson (1999) edited by Linda Lear, p. 99 (via WikiQuote)

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