Crisis Quotes - Page 17

• The age of puberty is a crisis in the age of man worth studying. It is the passage from the unconscious to the conscious; from thesleep of passions to their rage.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Passion, Men, Age

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• With the exception of the few cases to be discussed in the next chapter, adolescence represented no period of crisis or stress, but was instead an orderly developing of a set of slowly maturing interests and activities.

  Margaret Mead

  Stress, Next, Mature

  Margaret Mead (1973). “Coming of Age in Samoa”

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• Increasingly gang violence and organized crime, together with climate change-driven natural disasters, are displacing more people as wars are fewer on the continent and political violence has decreased considerably, the NRC has decided to treat this as a humanitarian crisis.

  Jan Egeland

  Change, War, People

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• The dirty little secret of what used to be known as Wall Street securities firms-Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns-was that every one of them funded their business in this way to varying degress, and every one of them was always just twenty-four hours away from a funding crisis. The key to day-to-day survival was the skill with which Wall Street executives managed their firms' ongoing reputation in the marketplace.

  William D. Cohan

  Brother, Wall, Dirty

  "House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street". Book by William D. Cohan, March 10, 2009.

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• Perhaps one of the most meaningful ways to sense the impact of the environmental crisis is to confront the question which is always asked about Lake Erie: how can we restore it? I believe the only valid answer is that no one knows. For it should be clear that even if overnight all of the pollutants now pouring into Lake Erie were stopped, there would still remain the problem of the accumulated mass of pollutants in the lake bottom.

  Barry Commoner

  Meaningful, Believe, Lakes

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• Because the global ecosystem is a connected whole, in which nothing can be gained or lost and which is not subject to over-all improvement, anything extracted from it by human effort must be replaced. Payment of this price cannot be avoided; it can only be delayed. The present environmental crisis is a warning that we have delayed nearly too long.

  Barry Commoner

  Ecosystems, Long, Effort

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• Capitalism rules worldwide, and a society whose economic fabric depends on constant growth requires that its citizens have ever-expanding needs and wants... In the West, it will take one with soul force equal to Gandhi's to change the prevailing dogma of ever increasing GNP. We may be forced to change our profligate ways some day, when the soil is depleted, the aquifers drained, the icecaps melted, and all the oil wells pumped dry. But the crisis will wait another fifty years or so; we'll leave those problems to a generation yet unborn.

  Philip Yancey

  Years, Oil, Aquifers

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• Certain elements of today's ecological crisis reveal its moral character. First among these is the indiscriminate application of advances in science and technology. Many recent discoveries have brought undeniable benefits to humanity. Indeed, they demonstrate the nobility of the human vocation to participate responsibly in God's creative action in the world. Unfortunately, it is now clear that the application of these discoveries in the fields of industry and agriculture have produced harmful long-term effects.

  Pope John Paul II

  Character, Technology, Agriculture

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• The gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the related "greenhouse effect" has now reached crisis proportions as a consequence of industrial growth, massive urban concentrations and vastly increased energy needs. Industrial waste, the burning of fossil fuels, unrestricted deforestation, the use of certain types of herbicides, coolants and propellants: all of these are known to harm the atmosphere and environment.

  Pope John Paul II

  Ozone Layer, Growth, Atmosphere

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• It is so important not to let ourselves off the hook or to become apathetic or cynical by telling ourselves that nothing works or makes a difference. Every day, light your small candle.... The inaction and actions of many human beings over a long time contributed to the crises our children face, and it is the action and struggle of many human beings over time that will solve them-with God's help. So every day, light your small candle.

  Marian Wright Edelman

  Children, Struggle, Light

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• Now comes the threat of climate crisis - a threat that is real, rising, imminent, and universal. Once again, it is the 11th hour. The penalties for ignoring this challenge are immense and growing, and at some near point would be unsustainable and unrecoverable. For now we still have the power to choose our fate, and the remaining question is only this: Have we the will to act vigorously and in time, or will we remain imprisoned by a dangerous illusion?

  Al Gore

  Real, Fate, Challenges

  Nobel Peace Prize Lecture, delivered 10 December 2007, Oslo, Norway

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• The planetary emergency unfolding around us is, first and foremost...a crisis of thought, values, perceptions, ideas and judgments. In other words, it is a crisis of mind, which makes it a crisis of those institutions which purport to improve minds.

  David W. Orr

  Ideas, Perception, Mind

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• When we talk about global crisis, or a crisis of humanity, we cannot blame a few politicians, a few fanatics, or a few troublemakers. The whole of humanity has a responsibility because it is our business, human business. I call this a sense of universal responsibility. That is a crucial point.

  Dalai Lama

  Responsibility, Humanity, Environmental

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• We do not have any respect, let alone reverence, for the world of nature because we do not have any respect, let alone reverence, for ourselves. It is because we cripple and mutilate ourselves that we cripple and mutilate everything else as well. Our contemporary crisis is really our own depravity writ large.

  Philip Sherrard

  Environmental, World, Stewardship

  Philip Sherrard (1992). “Human image, world image: the death and resurrection of sacred cosmology”, Sophia Perennis

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• It is essential that we take steps to prevent chemical substances from becoming environmental hazards. Unless we develop better methods to assure adequate testing of chemicals, we will be inviting the environmental crisis of the future.

  Richard M. Nixon

  Environmental, Essentials, Hazards

  Nixon, Richard M. (1972). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Richard M. Nixon, 1971”, p.132, Best Books on

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• The nuclear peril is usually seen in isolation from the threats to other forms of life and their ecosystems, but in fact it should be seen at the very center of the ecological crisis, as the cloud-covered Everest of which the more immediate, visible kinds of harm to the environment are the mere foothills.

  Jonathan Schell

  Ecosystems, Clouds, Environmental

  Jonathan Schell (2000). “The Fate of the Earth: And, The Abolition”, p.111, Stanford University Press

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• Its operation in a world beset by fuel and energy crises makes no sense at all.

  Alan Cranston

  Energy, Fuel, World

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• Fundamental systemic crises are often associated with the decline of the dominant imperial power and its increasing inability to sustain the system over which it had previously presided. The profound instability of the interwar period owed much to Britain's inability to maintain its role.

  Martin Jacques

  Profound, Inability, Roles

  "Northern Rock's rescue is part of a geopolitical sea change" by Martin Jacques, www.theguardian.com. February 17, 2008.

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• The average ordinary citizen can do a lot of different things when it comes to the climate crisis.

  Lawrence Bender

  Average, Climate, Ordinary

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• When an American declares bankruptcy, when he hits bottom, he can reinvent himself. There's a story he can tell. We tolerate reinvention. We encourage reinvention. That's what this country has that Europe does not. It's not just a crisis; it's an opportunity.

  Michael Lewis

  Country, Opportunity, Europe

  "Michael Lewis’ 'Boomerang': 'Money Thrown Out in Hope, Coming Back in Anger'". "PBS NewsHour" with Jeffrey Brown, www.pbs.org. October 21, 2011.

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• People are now starting to explain the Cold War. Even in the crises at that time the survival of millions of people was at stake. And we (the USA) had to threaten the other super power with retaliation to prevent it from doing something to us. Today we live in a world in which a lot of things are in flux. That creates a lot of fear. But it is also a time of great opportunity. And I would call on today's statesmen to not allow their thinking to be directed by fear.

  Henry A. Kissinger

  War, Opportunity, Thinking

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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• These public-private partnerships are very, very dangerous. The most rotten part of the financial system in the US consisted of the government sponsored entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They really kicked off this crisis. The state should set the rules and enforce them - but not become involved as a market player.

  George Soros

  Player, Government, Rotten

  "'The Economy Fell off the Cliff'". Interview with Mathias Müller von Blumencron, Gregor Peter Schmitz and Gabor Steingart, www.spiegel.de. November 24, 2008.

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• There is a well-established conviction that the central banks always do what is necessary to keep the system going and then afterwards you then take care of the legal aspects. In a crisis, you simply do not have time to think about such concerns for too long.

  George Soros

  Thinking, Long, Care

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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• China could easily emerge as the great winner if the Chinese leaders handle the situation well. On the other hand, they could also turn out to be the biggest losers if they handle it poorly. If the management turns out be wrong, this could lead to a political crisis in China.

  George Soros

  Hands, Leader, Political

  "'The Economy Fell off the Cliff'". Interview with Mathias Müller von Blumencron, Gregor Peter Schmitz and Gabor Steingart, www.spiegel.de. November 24, 2008.

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• Of course, speculation will always make a crisis worse. If there is a weak point, it will expose it.

  George Soros

  Weak Points, Speculation, Courses

  "'You Need This Dirty Word, Euro Bonds'". SPIEGEL Interview, www.spiegel.de. August 15, 2011.

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