Ancestor Quote by Janine Benyus

“A solitary American monk named Thomas Berry writes that in our relationship to nature, we have been autistic for centuries. Wrapped tightly in our own version of knowledge, we have been unreceptive to the wisdom of the natural world. To tune in again, to have the "spontaneous environmental rapport" that characterized our ancestors, will take doing something that is perfectly delightful: reimmersing ourselves in the natural world.”

Janine Benyus

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More by Janine Benyus

The answers to our questions are everywhere; we just need to change the lens with which we see the world.

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The more our world functions like the natural world, the more likely we are to endure on this home that is ours, but not…

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In reality, we haven't escaped the gravity of life at all. We are still beholden to ecological laws, the same as any other life-form.

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Organisms don't think of CO2 as a poison. Plants and organisms that make shells, coral, think of it as a building block.

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Water is at the center of every chemical reaction, and therefore should be the earth's most precious gift.

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After decades of faithful study, ecologists have begun to fathom hidden likenesses among many interwoven systems. ...a canon of nature's laws, strategies, and principles... Nature runs on sunlight. Nature uses only the energy it needs. Nature fits form to function. Nature recycles everything. Nature rewards cooperation. Nature banks on diversity. Nature demands local expertise. Nature curbs excesses from within. Nature…

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The answers to how to live sustainably on our planet are all around us.

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Green chemistry is replacing our industrial chemistry with nature's recipe book. It's not easy, because life uses only a subset of the elements in…

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Per capita, I would say that Australia has more biomimetic projects going than many other countries I've been to.

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Biological knowledge is doubling every five years.

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Nature works with five polymers. Only five polymers. In the natural world, life builds from the bottom up, and it builds in resilience and…

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Trees and bones are constantly reforming themselves along lines of stress. This algorithm has been put into a software program that's now being used…

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Explore all 44 Janine Benyus quotes

More Ancestor quotes

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Whereas our ancestors (not of choice) were the first successful cultivators of the wilds of America, we their descendants feel ourselves entitled to participate…

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I use the phrase 'sibling society' to suggest a culture fundamentally without fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, or ancestors. The thinking is horizontal.

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High birth is an accident, not a virtue.

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Southerners, whose ancestors a hundred years ago knew the horrors of a homeland devastated by war, are particularly determined that war shall never come…

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Two hundred years ago, before the advent of capitalism, a man's social status was fixed from the beginning to the end of his life;…

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And I saw for the first time how, despite the isolation of our own lives, we are always connected to our ancestors; our bodies…

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There is an ancient Indian saying: "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." If we use…

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It is how it has always been. We will accept the legacy of our ancestors,' Asha says, smiling, and in her smile I do not see warmth or wisdom; I see fear. You're afraid of losing your hold on them,' I say coolly. I? I have no power.' Don't you? If you keep them from the magic, they will never…

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