--- title: "1 Axes Quotes By Wade Davis" description: "1 Axes quotes by Wade Davis. Plus more from Wade Davis and more Axes sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/758/wade-davis-18196_axes_in-the-west-we-cling-to-the-past-like-li_2564655.png" --- > [In the West we cling to the past like limpets. In Haiti the present is the axis of all life. As in Africa, past and future are but distant measures of the present, and memories are as meaningless as promises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/in-the-west-we-cling-to-the-past-like-limpets-in-haiti-the-present-is/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/758/wade-davis-18196_axes_in-the-west-we-cling-to-the-past-like-li_2564655.png) ## More by Wade Davis > [“Even now I am haunted by the touching look of the young, bright, anxious eyes as we passed along the rows of sufferers. There,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/even-now-i-am-haunted-by-the-touching-look-of-the-young-bright/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [Its haunting to realize that half of the languages of the world are teetering on the brink of extinction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/its-haunting-to-realize-that-half-of-the-languages-of-the-world-are/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [We accept it as normal that people who have never been on the land, who have no history or connection to the country, may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/we-accept-it-as-normal-that-people-who-have-never-been-on-the-land/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [Change is no threat to culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/change-is-no-threat-to-culture/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [The measure of a society is not only what it does but the quality of its aspirations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/the-measure-of-a-society-is-not-only-what-it-does-but-the-quality-of/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [Genocide, the physical extinction of a people, is universally condemned, but ethnocide, the destruction of people's way of life, is not only not condemned,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/genocide-the-physical-extinction-of-a-people-is-universally-condemned/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [“What is even more astonishing is that the entire science of wayfinding is based on dead reckoning. You only know where you are by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/what-is-even-more-astonishing-is-that-the-entire-science-of/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [“Marsh had travelled on foot to the source of the Nile and once stood down a charging rhinoceros by intrepidly opening a pink umbrella…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/marsh-had-travelled-on-foot-to-the-source-of-the-nile-and-once-stood/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [The world can only appear monochromatic to those who persist in interpreting what they experience through the lens of a single cultural paradigm, their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/the-world-can-only-appear-monochromatic-to-those-who-persist-in/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [“Risk discomfort and solitude for understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/risk-discomfort-and-solitude-for-understanding/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [Sensitivity to nature is not an innate attribute of indigenous peoples. It is a consequence of adaptive choices that have resulted in the development…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/sensitivity-to-nature-is-not-an-innate-attribute-of-indigenous/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [So be patient. Do not compromise. And give your destiny time to find you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/so-be-patient-do-not-compromise-and-give-your-destiny-time-to-find-you/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [You know, once something freezes, it's solid. That's the key to the arctic - they didn't fear the cold, they made use of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/you-know-once-something-freezes-it-s-solid-that-s-the-key-to-the/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [“These other cultures are not failed attempts to be us; they are unique manifestations of the spirit—other options, other visions of life itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/these-other-cultures-are-not-failed-attempts-to-be-us-they-are-unique/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [The problem is that those of us sympathetic with the plight of indigenous people view them as quaint and colorful, but somehow reduced to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/the-problem-is-that-those-of-us-sympathetic-with-the-plight-of/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/axes/wade-davis/#itemlist", "name": "1 Axes Quotes By Wade Davis", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the West we cling to the past like limpets. 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