Wangari Maathai quotes - page 3

Those of us who have been privileged to receive education, skills, and experiences and even power must be role models for the next generation of leadership. (Wangari Maathai)
Culture is coded wisdom. View quote
Wangari Maathai
The people are learning that you cannot leave decisions only to leaders. Local groups have to create the political will for change, rather than waiting for others to do things for them. That is where positive, and sustainable, change begins. View quote
Wangari Maathai
Nobody in the world is completely dependent on another person, but we are all interdependent. View quote
Wangari Maathai
An individual citizen cannot protect himself from the powers of large corporations or external governments. It is the responsibility of the government to protect its citizens. View quote
Wangari Maathai
It is wonderful when you don't have the fear, and a lot of the time I don't ... I focus on what needs to be done instead. View quote
Wangari Maathai
I'm sure that many people who are involved in an environmental effort ... they will be pretty much encouraged by this recognition. View quote
Wangari Maathai
The issue of carbon is one area where we really need to work together and if people don't have the technology they need, that technology needs to be made available and affordable. View quote
Wangari Maathai
First of all, farmers should work with universities and research institutions in the country, and hopefully with the government. View quote
Wangari Maathai
I definitely hope to relax when I get back hope. I will disappear into the forest and be rejuvenated by the beauty of the mountains. View quote
Wangari Maathai
There will always be people who think that you have ambitions. (Wangari Maathai)
I knew that I was not doing anything wrong, and I knew in my mind I was doing the right thing. I knew that the people who were going against me were not going against me for a good purpose. I knew that they were trying to justify their corruption and misgovernance. View quote
Wangari Maathai
We refuse to share resources; we govern irresponsibly. If we are confident, if we have some of our cultural values, then we would be more committed to assisting our people out of poverty and creating an environment that can make it possible for our friends to assist us. View quote
Wangari Maathai
Because I was a woman, I was vulnerable. It was easy to vilify me and project me as a woman who was not following the tradition of a 'good African woman.' View quote
Wangari Maathai
We can work together for a better world with men and women of goodwill, those who radiate the intrinsic goodness of humankind. View quote
Wangari Maathai
That's the way I do things when I want to celebrate, I always plant a tree. And so I got an indigenous tree, called Nandi flame, it has this beautiful red flowers. When it is in flower it is like it is in flame. View quote
Wangari Maathai
We do the right thing not to please people but because it's the only logically reasonable thing to do, as long as we are being honest with ourselves - even if we are the only ones. View quote
Wangari Maathai
Resources on the planet are limited, and limited resources can come to an end. But there are also a lot of resources that are renewable. A lot of land, for example, can be reclaimed from the encroaching deserts. View quote
Wangari Maathai
What is really important is to educate people how to protect themselves and how to ensure that, despite their poverty, they can get tested and access drugs. So I just hope that those who can will make those drugs available. View quote
Wangari Maathai
Do not be naive. AIDS is not a curse from God to Africans or the black people. It is a tool to control them designed by some evil-minded scientists, but we may not know who particularly did it. View quote
Wangari Maathai
The planet needs trees. If there is indeed that carbon dioxide out there in the atmosphere, the only species on the planet that can actually trap it for us in a natural process of photosynthesis are the trees. (Wangari Maathai)
Culture defines who we are and how we see ourselves. A new attitude toward nature provides space for a new attitude toward culture and the role it plays in sustainable development. View quote
Wangari Maathai
We tend to put the environment last because we think the first thing we have to do is eliminate poverty and send children to school and provide health. View quote
Wangari Maathai
All through the ages the African people have made efforts to deliver themselves from oppressive forces. View quote
Wangari Maathai
I think that for anybody who has worked in the civil society, government bureaucracy moves very very slowly. View quote
Wangari Maathai