--- title: "1 Save Civilization Quotes By Lester R. Brown" description: "1 Save Civilization quotes by Lester R. Brown. Plus more from Lester R. Brown and more Save Civilization sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/838/lester-r-brown-14706_abandoned_saving-greenland-is-both-a-metaphor-and_2425593.jpg" --- > [Saving Greenland is both a metaphor and a precondition for saving civilization. If its ice sheet melts, sea levels will rise 23 feet. Hundreds of coastal cities will be abandoned. The rice growing river deltas of Asia will be under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/saving-greenland-is-both-a-metaphor-and-a-precondition-for-saving/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/838/lester-r-brown-14706_abandoned_saving-greenland-is-both-a-metaphor-and_2425593.jpg) ## More by Lester R. Brown > [The challenge is either to build an economy that is sustainable or to stay with our unsustainable economy until it declines. It is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/the-challenge-is-either-to-build-an-economy-that-is-sustainable-or-to/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [A sustainable economy represents nothing less than a higher social order one as concerned with future generations as with our own, and more focused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/a-sustainable-economy-represents-nothing-less-than-a-higher-social/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [We are witnessing the beginning of one of the great tragedies of history. The United States, in a misguided effort to reduce its oil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/we-are-witnessing-the-beginning-of-one-of-the-great-tragedies-of/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [The problem with water, though, is that the shortfalls don't show up until the very end. You can go on pumping unsustainably until the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/the-problem-with-water-though-is-that-the-shortfalls-don-t-show-up/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [In Mexico City, Tehran, Kolkata, Bangkok, Shanghai, and hundreds of other cities, the air is no longer safe to breathe. In some cities, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/in-mexico-city-tehran-kolkata-bangkok-shanghai-and-hundreds-of-other/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [We can build an economy that does not destroy its natural support systems, a global community where the basic needs of all the Earth's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/we-can-build-an-economy-that-does-not-destroy-its-natural-support/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [The throwaway economy that has been evolving over the last half-century is an aberration, now itself headed for the junk heap of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/the-throwaway-economy-that-has-been-evolving-over-the-last-half/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [Among the environmental trends undermining our future are shrinking forests, expanding deserts, falling water tables, collapsing fisheries, disappearing species, and rising temperatures. The temperature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/among-the-environmental-trends-undermining-our-future-are-shrinking/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [One way or another, the choice will be made by our generation, but it will affect life on earth for all generations to come](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/one-way-or-another-the-choice-will-be-made-by-our-generation-but-it/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [Our numbers expand, but Earth's natural systems do not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/our-numbers-expand-but-earth-s-natural-systems-do-not/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [Yet, most of the readily accessible reserves of oil formed over hundreds of millions of years will be consumed within a single generation, spanning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/yet-most-of-the-readily-accessible-reserves-of-oil-formed-over/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [Our early 21st century civilization is in trouble. We need not go beyond the world food economy to see this. Over the last few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/our-early-21st-century-civilization-is-in-trouble-we-need-not-go/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [Children whose developing lungs are particularly vulnerable suffer the most from air pollution. For children, breathing the air in cities with the worst pollution,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/children-whose-developing-lungs-are-particularly-vulnerable-suffer/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [The 20th century was the time when the world turned to use of fossil fuels and the 21st century will be the century of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/the-20th-century-was-the-time-when-the-world-turned-to-use-of-fossil/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [The foundation is being laid for the emergence of both wind and solar cells as cornerstones of the new energy economy. World wind generating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/the-foundation-is-being-laid-for-the-emergence-of-both-wind-and-solar/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/save-civilization/lester-r-brown/#itemlist", "name": "1 Save Civilization Quotes By Lester R. Brown", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Saving Greenland is both a metaphor and a precondition for saving civilization. If its ice sheet melts, sea levels will rise 23 feet. Hundreds of coastal cities will be abandoned. The rice growing river deltas of Asia will be under water. 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