We are social animals. We like to feel a part of something of beauty and power that transcends our insignificance. It can be a religion, a political party, a ball club. Why not also Nature? I feel a strong identity… — Bernd Heinrich Copy Share Image
For those that endure until spring, existence is reduced to its elegant essentials. — Bernd Heinrich Copy Share Image
Edward Abbey said you must brew your own beer; kick in you Tee Vee; kill your own beef; build your cabin and piss off the front porch whenever you bloody well feel like it. I already had a good start. As a teenager in rural Maine, after we came to America, I had learned hunting, fishing, and trapping in the… — Bernd Heinrich Copy Share
“We gauge what we think is possible by what we know from experience, and our acceptance of scientific insights, in particular, is incremental, gained… — Bernd Heinrich Copy Share Image
“When you consider life as a whole, intelligence is a mere bristle on the hog.” — Bernd Heinrich Copy Share Image
“The debate of nature versus nurture is an old one. But it is off the mark. There is no nature versus nurture. One is not possible without the other. Life is like a fire that consumes resources and changes them to something else. Genetic capacity is like a spark or flame. But the size of the final flame is not… — Bernd Heinrich Copy Share
“Planting nuts requires a vision for a future that goes beyond one’s mortal reach. If we envision ourselves as participants in the same grand, complex web of interactions as the forest, then planting acorns is like planting part of ourselves. The morality that comes from such a vision of ecosystem-as-life is a common thread that, if taught and encouraged, could… — Bernd Heinrich Copy Share
“The touching of nature is, to me, more than a satisfying of my curiosity. It is the source of my wonder. Any one species is a link to my life and all of life that has ever been. To contemplate life is akin to a religious meditation. Indeed, to have a false view of nature is, to me, a sacrilege,… — Bernd Heinrich Copy Share
“Every parting gives a foretaste of death, every reunion a hint of resurrection. —ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, German philosopher” — Bernd Heinrich Copy Share Image
“In order to forge alliances, we first need worthy adversaries. Without adversaries, no alliances are necessary.” — Bernd Heinrich Copy Share Image
The very idea of "managing" a forest in the first place is oxymoronic, because a forest is an ecosystem that is by definition self-managing. — Bernd Heinrich Copy Share Image
Conditions are seldom ideal, and if one waits long enough for ideal conditions one is just making excuses. — Bernd Heinrich Copy Share Image
