--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If man doesn't learn to treat the oceans…" description: "\"If man doesn't learn to treat the oceans and the rain forest with respect, man will become extinct.\" — Peter Benchley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/peter-benchley-10002_conservation_if-man-doesn-t-learn-to-treat-the-oceans_3183987.jpg" --- # If man doesn't learn to treat the oceans and the rain… ![“If man doesn't learn to treat the oceans and the rain forest with respect, man will become extinct.” quote by Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/peter-benchley-10002_conservation_if-man-doesn-t-learn-to-treat-the-oceans_3183987.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/peter-benchley-10002_conservation_if-man-doesn-t-learn-to-treat-the-oceans_3183987.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/peter-benchley-10002_conservation_if-man-doesn-t-learn-to-treat-the-oceans_3183987.jpg) > “If man doesn't learn to treat the oceans and the rain forest with respect, man will become extinct.” [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human neglect of nature leads to self-destruction; respecting ecosystems is essential for survival. **In simple terms:** Respect nature or face extinction. Key Takeaway Protect oceans and forests now. Themes environment responsibility survival Mood urgent concerned Type activist warning When to use this quote - policy making - education - activism - corporate practices Key Concepts ecology ethics Questions to Reflect On - What actions can individuals take to protect ecosystems? - How can societies balance growth with environmental stewardship? A Different Perspective Change is slow and economic interests resist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conservation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservation/) [Forests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forests/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [Rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rain/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) ## Related quotes > [“A Caution to Everybody consider the Auk. Becoming extinct before because he forgot out to fly and could only walk. Consider Man, who may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/a-caution-to-everybody-consider-the-auk-becoming-extinct-before/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [People should treat the oceans like we do anything else that we care about - with consideration, with care, and affection. That's it. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-munk/people-should-treat-the-oceans-like-we-do-anything-else-that-we-care/) [Walter Munk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-munk/) > [The entire hominid collection known today would barely cover a billiard table, ... the collection is so tantalizingly incomplete, and the specimens themselves often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-reader/the-entire-hominid-collection-known-today-would-barely-cover-a/) John Reader > [I will far rather see the race of man extinct than that we should become less than beasts by making the noblest of God's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-will-far-rather-see-the-race-of-man-extinct-than-that-we-should/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Left alone, the Florida panther would be remembered as a textbook exercise on how to go extinct while your abundant and vociferous advocates argue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-j-o-brien/left-alone-the-florida-panther-would-be-remembered-as-a-textbook/) [Stephen J. O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-j-o-brien/) > [“Far from its outward appearance, the rain forest was not a garden of easy abundance, but precisely the opposite. Its quiet, shaded halls of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candice-millard/far-from-its-outward-appearance-the-rain-forest-was-not-a-garden-of/) [Candice Millard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candice-millard/) > [Since I was a kid, I've been telling everyone about the rain forest and how it's being destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-kreuk/since-i-was-a-kid-i-ve-been-telling-everyone-about-the-rain-forest/) [Kristin Kreuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-kreuk/) > [“He plunged into the foliage, and was swept into a humid, wet world of towering trees, animal chirps and thick ferns. After a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-p-grish/he-plunged-into-the-foliage-and-was-swept-into-a-humid-wet-world-of/) T.P. Grish > [“I remember reading once how some Stone Age Indians from the Brazilian rain forest with no knowledge or expectation of a world beyond the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/i-remember-reading-once-how-some-stone-age-indians-from-the-brazilian/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [If I were a Brazilian without land or money or the means to feed my children, I would be burning the rain forest too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sting/if-i-were-a-brazilian-without-land-or-money-or-the-means-to-feed-my/) [Sting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sting/) > [I have vivid memories of leaving North Borneo at 8, and I remember the vast canopy of rain forest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clare-rewcastle-brown/i-have-vivid-memories-of-leaving-north-borneo-at-8-and-i-remember-the/) [Clare Rewcastle Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clare-rewcastle-brown/) > [The rain forest has Sting. Now Siberia has Jack Dee. Someone had to draw the short straw. In this case it was the rain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-dee/the-rain-forest-has-sting-now-siberia-has-jack-dee-someone-had-to/) [Jack Dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-dee/) > [“Deep in the rain forest it was doing what it usually does in rain forests, which was raining: hence the name.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/deep-in-the-rain-forest-it-was-doing-what-it-usually-does-in-rain/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“As I sit, my back leaning against a damp, moss-covered tree trunk, my eyes sweeping the canopy above, my ears straining to catch the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/birute-m-f-galdikas/as-i-sit-my-back-leaning-against-a-damp-moss-covered-tree-trunk-my/) Birute M.F. Galdikas > [Yes, Brazil, like the whole world, stands to lose a lot in a climate-altered world. But it's also one of the major forces determining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gisele-bundchen/yes-brazil-like-the-whole-world-stands-to-lose-a-lot-in-a-climate/) [Gisele Bundchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gisele-bundchen/) ## More by Peter Benchley > [If you take away the predators in the prairies and the national parks, you suddenly have an explosion of elk, and then you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/if-you-take-away-the-predators-in-the-prairies-and-the-national-parks/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [Without sharks, you take away the apex predator of the ocean, and you destroy the entire food chain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/without-sharks-you-take-away-the-apex-predator-of-the-ocean-and-you/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [Since writing JAWS, I've been lucky enough to do close to forty television shows about wildlife in the oceans, and yes, I have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/since-writing-jaws-i-ve-been-lucky-enough-to-do-close-to-forty/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [“Intellectually, they knew a great deal. Practically, they chose to know almost nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/intellectually-they-knew-a-great-deal-practically-they-chose-to-know/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [“Come up fish. Come to Quint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/come-up-fish-come-to-quint/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [Oceanography is a terrific career because gradually we seem to be coming around to realize that we had better become as acquainted with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/oceanography-is-a-terrific-career-because-gradually-we-seem-to-be/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [“He felt at once betrayed and betrayer, deceived and deceiver. He was a criminal forced into crime, an unwilling whore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/he-felt-at-once-betrayed-and-betrayer-deceived-and-deceiver-he-was-a/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [The great fish moved silently through the night water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/the-great-fish-moved-silently-through-the-night-water/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [Sharks have everything a scientist dreams of. They're beautiful―God, how beautiful they are! They're like an impossibly perfect piece of machinery. They're as graceful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/sharks-have-everything-a-scientist-dreams-of-they-re-beautiful-god/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [In a deeply tribal sense, we love our monsters, and I think that is the key to it right there. It is monsters; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/in-a-deeply-tribal-sense-we-love-our-monsters-and-i-think-that-is-the/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [There was a minor burst of macho nuttiness after 'Jaws' came out, in which people would go off in shark tournaments and come back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/there-was-a-minor-burst-of-macho-nuttiness-after-jaws-came-out-in/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [The fish was an enemy. It had come upon the community and killed two men, a woman, and a child. The people of Amity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/the-fish-was-an-enemy-it-had-come-upon-the-community-and-killed-two/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [“A man dies, girl, he isn't any more, least not down here. Respect and all that crap doesn't deserve the dead; it just makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/a-man-dies-girl-he-isn-t-any-more-least-not-down-here-respect-and-all/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [The past always seems better when you look back on it than it did at the time. And the present never looks as good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/the-past-always-seems-better-when-you-look-back-on-it-than-it-did-at/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [“The past always seems better when you look back on it than it did at the time. And the present never looks as good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/the-past-always-seems-better-when-you-look-back-on-it-than-it-did-at-2/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) [Explore all 64 Peter Benchley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) ## More Conservation quotes > [“In the United States law, federally designated wilderness is famously defined as 'an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-marris/in-the-united-states-law-federally-designated-wilderness-is-famously/) [Emma Marris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-marris/) > [I believe humans have souls, and I believe in the conservation of souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-believe-humans-have-souls-and-i-believe-in-the-conservation-of-souls/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Conservation and rural-life policies are really two sides of the same policy; and down at the bottom this policy rests upon the fundamental law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/conservation-and-rural-life-policies-are-really-two-sides-of-the-same/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Soft fantasy worlds have a much looser cause-and-effect relationship. Alchemists can turn lead into gold and nobody wonders about how it will impact the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/soft-fantasy-worlds-have-a-much-looser-cause-and-effect-relationship/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I am optimistic globally. So many scientists are working frantically on the reparation of our planet. Unfortunately there are countries who are still destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-irwin/i-am-optimistic-globally-so-many-scientists-are-working-frantically/) [Steve Irwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-irwin/) > [We must commit ourselves to an 'all of the above' energy approach, with a major focus on increasing domestic production and expanding alternatives fuels,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-roskam/we-must-commit-ourselves-to-an-all-of-the-above-energy-approach-with/) [Peter Roskam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-roskam/) > [Listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act could harm bear conservation efforts by eliminating revenues from the carefully-regulated sport hunting of polar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-ridenour/listing-the-polar-bear-under-the-endangered-species-act-could-harm/) Amy Ridenour > [Conservation is humanity caring for the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-newhall/conservation-is-humanity-caring-for-the-future/) Nancy Newhall > [In our attempt to make conservation easy, we have made it trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/in-our-attempt-to-make-conservation-easy-we-have-made-it-trivial/) [Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/) > [When you defile the pleasant streams, And the wild bird's abiding place, You massacre a million dreams, And cast your spittle in God's face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-drinkwater/when-you-defile-the-pleasant-streams-and-the-wild-bird-s-abiding/) [John Drinkwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-drinkwater/) > [It's clear that it is in the best interest of business to be part of the conservation, along with governments and civil society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/it-s-clear-that-it-is-in-the-best-interest-of-business-to-be-part-of/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [To Jane Jacob’s three traditional urban values of civic space, human scale and diversity, the current environmental imperative adds two more: conservation and regionalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-calthorpe/to-jane-jacob-s-three-traditional-urban-values-of-civic-space-human/) Peter Calthorpe > [Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/something-will-have-gone-out-of-us-as-a-people-if-we-ever-let-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [There is no domestic issue more important to America in the long run than the conservation and proper use of our natural resources, including…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaylord-nelson/there-is-no-domestic-issue-more-important-to-america-in-the-long-run/) [Gaylord Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaylord-nelson/) > [The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/the-conservation-of-natural-resources-is-the-fundamental-problem/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) [Browse all 579 Conservation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If man doesn't learn to treat the oceans and the rain forest with respect, man will become extinct.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Benchley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/if-man-doesn-t-learn-to-treat-the-oceans-and-the-rain-forest-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conservation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/if-man-doesn-t-learn-to-treat-the-oceans-and-the-rain-forest-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/peter-benchley-10002_conservation_if-man-doesn-t-learn-to-treat-the-oceans_3183987.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/peter-benchley-10002_conservation_if-man-doesn-t-learn-to-treat-the-oceans_3183987.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e3/peter-benchley-10002_conservation_if-man-doesn-t-learn-to-treat-the-oceans_3183987.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If man doesn't learn to treat the oceans and the rain forest with respect, man will become extinct.” — Peter Benchley", "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": "Peter Benchley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If man doesn't learn to treat...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/if-man-doesn-t-learn-to-treat-the-oceans-and-the-rain-forest-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/if-man-doesn-t-learn-to-treat-the-oceans-and-the-rain-forest-with/#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 } } ] } ```