Maurice Strong's Quotes

I've got used to criticisms and, naturally, I try to make sure I don't listen to the more extreme ones because most of the people who have taken their right-wing extremist view of my life are people that I've never met.

In addition to this, they already have a fuel cell car on the road in Japan. It is subsidized from within the corporation because they are still at a high cost.

Most of my supporters are people who actually know me. I just continue to do the best I can and I don't bother to try and respond to every little bit because the best response is just to keep on doing what you think is right.

Nevertheless, the concept of sustainable development is now known - even amongst those who haven't accepted it - and it's recognized, debated and followed by an increasing number of businesses.

One of the things that I've always thought I would like to do is to develop an environmental index. Then people can measure their own environmental performance on an index as they do in other ways.

Ted Turner is still a leader. And he sets a great example. His ability financially has been reduced, but his influence and his example still is an important asset to the whole environmental movement.

Toyota was the first to put a commercial fuel cell powered car on the road, and I have no doubt that Toyota will continue to be in the front lines in the development of competitive fuel cell vehicles.

We in the industrialized world make a greater difference because our ecological footprint, our impact on the condition of the environment, is 40 to 50 times larger than that of people in the developing world.

Well they do have a use, but we should never believe that any international conference is going to suddenly solve problems like the condition of the global environment.

We may get to the point where the only way of saving the world will be for industrial civilization to collapse.

After all, sustainability means running the global environment - Earth Inc. - like a corporation: with depreciation, amortization and maintenance accounts. In other words, keeping the asset whole, rather than undermining your natural capital.

Licences to have babies incidentally is something that I got in trouble for some years ago for suggesting even in Canada that this might be necessary at some point, at least some restriction on the right to have a child.

What pleases me most is that sustainable development is on almost everybody's agenda now.

Don't accept that you can't make a difference. Because if you can't make a difference, you won't make a difference, and if you put a multiplier on that we will continue on an unsustainable pathway.

If you want to maintain a sustainable supply of fish you have to farm the fish, rather than mine them. So putting your money into fishing fleets that are going to exacerbate the problem by over-fishing is not the way to preserve the underlying asset.

A shift is necessary toward lifestyles less geared to environmental damaging consumption patterns.

I am convinced the prophets of doom have to be taken seriously.

I learn something from criticism because when it comes from sources you respect you always examine it and learn.

Inertia is a powerful force in human and political affairs.

My belief is that the purpose of economic life is to meet the social needs of people.

So, what we do as individuals matters. It adds up.

The Prime Minister of India, at a meeting that I co-chaired a few months ago, stated that any development that is not sustainable is not development.

The tendency is to keep doing things the way you have done them.

We must, from here on in, all go down the same path... There may not be another chance.

We owe at least this much to future generations, from whom we have borrowed a fragile planet called Earth.

We're either going to save Ihe world or no one will be saved.