--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We have been quick to assume rights to…" description: "\"We have been quick to assume rights to use water but slow to recognize obligations to preserve and protect it... In short, we need a water ethic-a guid..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/127/sandra-postel-51712_assuming_we-have-been-quick-to-assume-rights-to-u_791135.jpg" --- # We have been quick to assume rights to use water but slow… ![“We have been quick to assume rights to use water but slow to recognize obligations to preserve and protect it... In short, we need a water ethic-a guide to right conduct in the face of complex decisions about natural systems we do not and cannot fully understand.” quote by Sandra Postel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/127/sandra-postel-51712_assuming_we-have-been-quick-to-assume-rights-to-u_791135.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/127/sandra-postel-51712_assuming_we-have-been-quick-to-assume-rights-to-u_791135.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/127/sandra-postel-51712_assuming_we-have-been-quick-to-assume-rights-to-u_791135.jpg) > “We have been quick to assume rights to use water but slow to recognize obligations to preserve and protect it... In short, we need a water ethic-a guide to right conduct in the face of complex decisions about natural systems we do not and cannot fully understand.” [Sandra Postel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-postel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A water ethic balances usage rights with responsibilities to protect and preserve water resources. **In simple terms:** Treat water as a shared responsibility. Key Takeaway Adopt sustainable water practices. Themes environmental stewardship ethics resource management Mood concerned motivational Type environmental ethical When to use this quote - agriculture - urban planning - policy making - personal consumption Key Concepts sustainability intergenerational equity Questions to Reflect On - What obligations do you have toward water conservation? - How can you influence water policy locally? A Different Perspective Implementation can be hindered by political and economic interests. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assuming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assuming/) [Complexes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexes/) [Decision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decision/) [Ethic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethic/) [Ethic Guide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethic-guide-6075614/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Guides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guides/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Need Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-water-285565/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Obligation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obligation/) [Preserves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preserves/) [Protect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protect/) [Rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rain/) [Right conduct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-conduct/) [Rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Use Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use-water-893986/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Water Ethic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water-ethic-6075613/) ## Related quotes > [What if we're wrong and there is no climate change? 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Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [“Every action that you take - that your disorder tells you to take - is self-harming in the short and long term.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyavrat-thareja/every-action-that-you-take-that-your-disorder-tells-you-to-take-is/) [Priyavrat Thareja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyavrat-thareja/) > [You may have the best vegetables, you may be the most capable cook, but, if the copper vessel in which you prepare the vegetable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/you-may-have-the-best-vegetables-you-may-be-the-most-capable-cook-but/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) > [Every person, as every institution, and, above all, every religion is to be judged not by the amount of atrocities or the wrong committed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/every-person-as-every-institution-and-above-all-every-religion-is-to/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The sincere effort to accept and promote the human values - Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, Non-Violence and Love. These five values are a essential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/the-sincere-effort-to-accept-and-promote-the-human-values-truth-right/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) ## More by Sandra Postel > [Water is finite and we have not done a great job of managing it in the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-postel/water-is-finite-and-we-have-not-done-a-great-job-of-managing-it-in/) [Sandra Postel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-postel/) > [Water is the basis of life and the blue arteries of the earth! Everything in the non-marine environment depends on freshwater to survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-postel/water-is-the-basis-of-life-and-the-blue-arteries-of-the-earth/) [Sandra Postel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-postel/) > [For many of us, water simply flows from a faucet, and we think little about it beyond this point of contact. 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Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) [Browse all 2,452 Assuming quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assuming/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We have been quick to assume rights to use water but slow to recognize obligations to preserve and protect it... 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