--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The 'environmental crisis' has happened…" description: "\"The 'environmental crisis' has happened because the human household or economy is in conflict at almost every point with the household of nature. We ha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/387/wendell-berry-236_assumption_the-environmental-crisis-has-happened-be_2537010.jpg" --- # The 'environmental crisis' has happened because the human… ![“The 'environmental crisis' has happened because the human household or economy is in conflict at almost every point with the household of nature. We have built our household on the assumption that the natural household is simple and can be simply used. We have assumed increasingly over the last…” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/387/wendell-berry-236_assumption_the-environmental-crisis-has-happened-be_2537010.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/387/wendell-berry-236_assumption_the-environmental-crisis-has-happened-be_2537010.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/387/wendell-berry-236_assumption_the-environmental-crisis-has-happened-be_2537010.jpg) > “The 'environmental crisis' has happened because the human household or economy is in conflict at almost every point with the household of nature. We have built our household on the assumption that the natural household is simple and can be simply used. We have assumed increasingly over the last five hundred years that nature is merely a supply of 'raw materials,' and that we may safely possess those materials by taking them… And so we will be wrong if we attempt to correct what we perceive as 'environmental' problems without correcting the economic oversimplification that caused them.” [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human economies treat nature as a simple resource, ignoring the complex interdependence of natural systems, leading to environmental crises. **In simple terms:** We view nature as a cheap supply, causing ecological damage. Key Takeaway Recognize nature’s complexity before fixing environmental issues. Themes environment economy interdependence sustainability Mood concerned reflective Type analytical critical When to use this quote - policy making - business strategy - education curricula - community planning Key Concepts systems thinking ecological economics anthropocentrism Questions to Reflect On - How can economic models incorporate ecological limits? - What policies can align profit with planetary health? A Different Perspective Environmental fixes fail if they ignore underlying economic assumptions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Conflict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/) [Crisis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crisis/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Environmental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental/) [Environmental crisis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental-crisis/) [Environmental problems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental-problems/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Inspiring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiring/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Oversimplification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oversimplification/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [Overconsumption and overpopulation underlie every environmental problem we face today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-yves-cousteau/overconsumption-and-overpopulation-underlie-every-environmental/) [Jacques Yves Cousteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-yves-cousteau/) > [We must alert and organise the world's people to pressure world leaders to take specific steps to solve the two root causes of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-yves-cousteau/we-must-alert-and-organise-the-world-s-people-to-pressure-world/) [Jacques Yves Cousteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-yves-cousteau/) > [The financial crisis happened because no-one could actually say out loud how bad things were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ravenhill/the-financial-crisis-happened-because-no-one-could-actually-say-out/) [Mark Ravenhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ravenhill/) > [I bought a house right before the housing crisis happened. 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But a crowd that understands the reasons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/a-crowd-whose-discontent-has-risen-no-higher-than-the-level-of/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [ “...\[T\]here is no art in being intelligible if one renounces all thoroughness of insight; but also it produces a disgusting medley of compiled observations… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/t-here-is-no-art-in-being-intelligible-if-one-renounces-all/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [It is an oversimplification to say that the opposite of irony is oversimplification.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jedediah-purdy/it-is-an-oversimplification-to-say-that-the-opposite-of-irony-is/) Jedediah Purdy > [ With an absurd oversimplification, the "invention" of calculus \[method in mathematics\] is sometimes ascribed to two men, Newton and Leibniz. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-courant/with-an-absurd-oversimplification-the-invention-of-calculus-method-in/) [Richard Courant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-courant/) > [People are still people, and they make their decisions based on their life experiences and their beliefs. 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When you find yourself stuck in an oversimplified polarized conflict, a useful first step is to try to become more aware…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-t-coleman/see-the-system-when-you-find-yourself-stuck-in-an-oversimplified/) Peter T. Coleman > ["Biblical theology" refers to something more precise than theology that is faithful to the Bible. It might be helpful to draw a contrast: at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-carson/biblical-theology-refers-to-something-more-precise-than-theology-that/) [D. A. Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-carson/) > [At the risk of some oversimplification, if the skill composition of our work force meshed fully with the needs of our increasingly complex capital-stock,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/at-the-risk-of-some-oversimplification-if-the-skill-composition-of/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) ## More by Wendell Berry > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [To husband is to use with care, to keep, to save, to make last, to conserve. 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Time does not stop for love, but it does not stop for death and grief, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mercy-of-the-world-is-time-time-does-not-stop-for-love-but-it/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The soil is the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-soil-is-the-great-connector-of-our-lives-the-source-and/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I dislike the thought that some animal has been made miserable to feed me. If I am going to eat meat, I want it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-dislike-the-thought-that-some-animal-has-been-made-miserable-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Laughter is immeasurable. 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Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. 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