--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We have built a greenhouse, a human…" description: "\"We have built a greenhouse, a human greenhouse, where once there bloomed a sweet and wild garden.\" — Bill McKibben" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bb/bill-mckibben-1057_biodiversity_we-have-built-a-greenhouse-a-human-green_1985998.jpg" --- # We have built a greenhouse, a human greenhouse, where once… ![“We have built a greenhouse, a human greenhouse, where once there bloomed a sweet and wild garden.” quote by Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bb/bill-mckibben-1057_biodiversity_we-have-built-a-greenhouse-a-human-green_1985998.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bb/bill-mckibben-1057_biodiversity_we-have-built-a-greenhouse-a-human-green_1985998.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bb/bill-mckibben-1057_biodiversity_we-have-built-a-greenhouse-a-human-green_1985998.jpg) > “We have built a greenhouse, a human greenhouse, where once there bloomed a sweet and wild garden.” [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human activity has turned Earth into a managed environment, losing its wildness. **In simple terms:** Human greenhouse replaces wild garden. Key Takeaway Protect natural wildness. Themes environment human impact conservation Mood concerned hopeful Type activist philosophical When to use this quote - city planning - policy making - education Key Concepts ecology climate change urbanization Questions to Reflect On - What does “wild” mean to you? - How can we balance human needs with nature? A Different Perspective Restoring wilderness may conflict with development needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biodiversity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biodiversity/) [Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built/) [Built Greenhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built-greenhouse-3417863/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Garden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/garden/) [Gardening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardening/) [Greenhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greenhouse/) [Greenhouse Bloomed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greenhouse-bloomed-3417860/) [Greenhouse Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greenhouse-human-3417862/) [Greenhouses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greenhouses/) [Human Greenhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-greenhouse-3417861/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweet/) ## Related quotes > [...99 percent confident that the world really was getting warmer and that there was a high degree of probability that it was due to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/99-percent-confident-that-the-world-really-was-getting-warmer-and/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [Who loves a garden loves a greenhouse too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cowper/who-loves-a-garden-loves-a-greenhouse-too/) [William Cowper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cowper/) > [I taught world history. I understand there was an Ice Age... seasons come and seasons go. I do not believe the world's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shimkus/i-taught-world-history-i-understand-there-was-an-ice-age-seasons-come/) [John Shimkus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shimkus/) > [“The greenhouse was made entirely of glass. Its ceiling reached five stories high, tall enough to fit a variety of fruit-bearing trees and vines.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-selfors/the-greenhouse-was-made-entirely-of-glass-its-ceiling-reached-five/) [Suzanne Selfors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-selfors/) > [The greenhouse scene! It was just so fun to have the romance and the action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-collins/the-greenhouse-scene-it-was-just-so-fun-to-have-the-romance-and-the/) [Lily Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-collins/) > [Even if we were to stop putting out greenhouse gases right now, we'd still face decades of warming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamais-cascio/even-if-we-were-to-stop-putting-out-greenhouse-gases-right-now-we-d/) [Jamais Cascio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamais-cascio/) > [You could engineer a human to survive the greenhouse effect because you think that's what's going to happen, and then all of a sudden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-di-filippo/you-could-engineer-a-human-to-survive-the-greenhouse-effect-because/) [Paul Di Filippo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-di-filippo/) > [I'm committed to the goal of Senate Bill 324, and that is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-brown/i-m-committed-to-the-goal-of-senate-bill-324-and-that-is-to-reduce/) [Kate Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-brown/) > [Carbon dioxide isn't the only greenhouse gas out there. Other substances, such as water vapor and nitrous oxide, also trap heat to varying degrees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamais-cascio/carbon-dioxide-isn-t-the-only-greenhouse-gas-out-there-other/) [Jamais Cascio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamais-cascio/) > [“She was awake, alive, full of ideas like branches in a greenhouse, growing thick and rife against the glass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolina-de-robertis/she-was-awake-alive-full-of-ideas-like-branches-in-a-greenhouse/) [Carolina De Robertis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolina-de-robertis/) > [“Instead of canals, a magical four-story central courtyard faces the interior walls. A greenhouse of sorts. The roof is glass and the floor is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-a-shapiro/instead-of-canals-a-magical-four-story-central-courtyard-faces-the/) [Barbara A. Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-a-shapiro/) > [Sending a container from Shanghai to Le Havre emits fewer greenhouse gases than the truck that takes the container on to Lyon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-george/sending-a-container-from-shanghai-to-le-havre-emits-fewer-greenhouse/) [Rose George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-george/) > [Venus has a runaway greenhouse effect. I kind of want to know what happened there because we're twirling knobs here on Earth without knowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/venus-has-a-runaway-greenhouse-effect-i-kind-of-want-to-know-what/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“The greenhouse effect I am knowing; To protest right now I am going, But oh my gee whiz, I'm going that is, If only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cook/the-greenhouse-effect-i-am-knowing-to-protest-right-now-i-am-going/) [Alan Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cook/) > [Her mother was a cultivated woman - she was born in a greenhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spike-milligan/her-mother-was-a-cultivated-woman-she-was-born-in-a-greenhouse/) [Spike Milligan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spike-milligan/) ## More by Bill McKibben > [I try not to be either optimistic or pessimistic. I try not to think about outcomes on that scale. My job, it seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-try-not-to-be-either-optimistic-or-pessimistic-i-try-not-to-think/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Oil companies are radical because they're willing to alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/oil-companies-are-radical-because-they-re-willing-to-alter-the/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Whenever anyone challenges anything, the powers that be try to paint them as extremists or radicals or whatever. And I think that's actually nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/whenever-anyone-challenges-anything-the-powers-that-be-try-to-paint/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [My guess is that liberating the fossil fuel industry to frack anywhere they want will drive down the rate at which we're converting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/my-guess-is-that-liberating-the-fossil-fuel-industry-to-frack/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [What makes us different? We're the creature that can decide not to do something that we are capable of doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/what-makes-us-different-we-re-the-creature-that-can-decide-not-to-do/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“The snow was coming down so hard. It looked like the flakes were hurrying to get out of the sky so the next ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-snow-was-coming-down-so-hard-it-looked-like-the-flakes-were/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Most of the men and women who vote in Congress each year to continue subsidies have taken campaign donations from big energy companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/most-of-the-men-and-women-who-vote-in-congress-each-year-to-continue/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“I’ve sat behind a microphone and listened for decades as Americans learned to stop talking with each other and start shouting instead. No discussions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-ve-sat-behind-a-microphone-and-listened-for-decades-as-americans/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [People in low-lying countries like Bangladesh with almost 140 million people who are managing to feed themselves, whose carbon emissions can't really be calculated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/people-in-low-lying-countries-like-bangladesh-with-almost-140-million/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We're putting more carbon into the atmosphere than the atmosphere can absorb. And everybody told us when we started, coz we knew nothing when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmosphere-than-the-atmosphere-can/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Everything that the administration has done has been counterproductive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everything-that-the-administration-has-done-has-been-counterproductive/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We use the web to help people organize in the flesh, and then we take the images of those events and put them back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-use-the-web-to-help-people-organize-in-the-flesh-and-then-we-take/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [everyone knows, at some level, that the sharp line between "good weather" and "bad weather" is a fiction, that we need rain as surely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everyone-knows-at-some-level-that-the-sharp-line-between-good-weather/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [The thing about global warming is that you can address it on a great number of levels - in fact you have to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-thing-about-global-warming-is-that-you-can-address-it-on-a-great/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Where people aren't as deeply reliant on fossil fuel as in the United States, it's far easier for them to imagine change on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/where-people-aren-t-as-deeply-reliant-on-fossil-fuel-as-in-the-united/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) [Explore all 299 Bill McKibben quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## More Biodiversity quotes > [Agricultural demand for water - probably the largest threat to freshwater species - continues to increase. ... Meanwhile, threats to terrestrial biodiversity - primarily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indur-m-goklany/agricultural-demand-for-water-probably-the-largest-threat-to/) [Indur M. Goklany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indur-m-goklany/) > [The thing that I think about most often is the loss of biodiversity. We talk about these food issues so often with concern to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-terry/the-thing-that-i-think-about-most-often-is-the-loss-of-biodiversity/) [Bryant Terry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-terry/) > [We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/we-should-preserve-every-scrap-of-biodiversity-as-priceless-while-we/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [I will defend the absolute value of Mozart over Miley Cyrus, of course I will, but we should be wary of false dichotomies. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/i-will-defend-the-absolute-value-of-mozart-over-miley-cyrus-of-course/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [Man has created death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/man-has-created-death/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Civilization has ceased to be that delicate flower which was preserved and painstakingly cultivated in one or two sheltered areas of a soil rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/civilization-has-ceased-to-be-that-delicate-flower-which-was/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [“The bottom line answer to the question about why biodiversity matters is fairly simple: The rest of the living world can get along without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-a-earle/the-bottom-line-answer-to-the-question-about-why-biodiversity-matters/) [Sylvia A. Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-a-earle/) > [If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and well, and destroy the biodiversity that allows natural systems to function,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/if-we-pollute-the-air-water-and-soil-that-keep-us-alive-and-well-and/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [We share this planet with many species. It is our responsibility to protect them, both for their sakes and our own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-a-matson/we-share-this-planet-with-many-species-it-is-our-responsibility-to/) [Pamela A. Matson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-a-matson/) > [For us, not cooperating in the monopoly regimes of intellectual property rights and patents and biodiversity - saying "no" to patents on life, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vandana-shiva/for-us-not-cooperating-in-the-monopoly-regimes-of-intellectual/) [Vandana Shiva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vandana-shiva/) > [I can't imagine anything more important than air, water, soil, energy and biodiversity. These are the things that keep us alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/i-can-t-imagine-anything-more-important-than-air-water-soil-energy/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [An agricultural landscape produces food but it also provides water, requires biodiversity to underpin soil function, pollination and other useful services, and also has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-benton/an-agricultural-landscape-produces-food-but-it-also-provides-water/) [Tim Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-benton/) > [I came to all the realizations about sustainability and biodiversity because I fell in love with the way food tastes. That was it. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-waters/i-came-to-all-the-realizations-about-sustainability-and-biodiversity/) [Alice Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-waters/) > [It is important to recognize that behind the razzmatazz of consumerism, we all remain dependent on basic natural resources - land, air, water and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/klaus-topfer/it-is-important-to-recognize-that-behind-the-razzmatazz-of/) [Klaus Topfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/klaus-topfer/) > [The byproduct of the main thrust to protect the biodiversity of a given place is that you get especially young people out to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-tompkins/the-byproduct-of-the-main-thrust-to-protect-the-biodiversity-of-a/) [Douglas Tompkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-tompkins/) [Browse all 151 Biodiversity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biodiversity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We have built a greenhouse, a human greenhouse, where once there bloomed a sweet and wild garden.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill McKibben" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-have-built-a-greenhouse-a-human-greenhouse-where-once-there/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Biodiversity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-have-built-a-greenhouse-a-human-greenhouse-where-once-there/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bb/bill-mckibben-1057_biodiversity_we-have-built-a-greenhouse-a-human-green_1985998.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bb/bill-mckibben-1057_biodiversity_we-have-built-a-greenhouse-a-human-green_1985998.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bb/bill-mckibben-1057_biodiversity_we-have-built-a-greenhouse-a-human-green_1985998.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We have built a greenhouse, a human greenhouse, where once there bloomed a sweet and wild garden.” — Bill McKibben", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bill McKibben", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We have built a greenhouse, a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-have-built-a-greenhouse-a-human-greenhouse-where-once-there/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-have-built-a-greenhouse-a-human-greenhouse-where-once-there/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```