45 Best Rachel Carson Quotes From The American Marine Biologist
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Rachel Carson was an American marine biologist well known for her writings on environmental contamination.
She was the first one to notify the world about hazardous effects of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Her writings impacted the global environmental movement.
'The Sense Of Wonder', 'The Sea Around Us', 'The Edge Of The Sea' and 'Silent Spring' are some of her most prolific books. In the article below, you will find some of the best quotes by the biologist, Rachel Carson.
If you like this article about Rachel Carson quotes, you may also want to check our other quotes articles ocean quotes and [David Attenborough quotes].
Best Rachel Carson Quotes
Here are Rachel Carson quotes from 'Silent Spring', and some other quotes by Rachel Carson.
1. “A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full or wonder and excitement."
- Rachel Carson, 'The Sense Of Wonder'.
2. "In this now universal contamination of the environment, chemicals are the sinister and little-recognized partners of radiation in changing the very nature of the world-the very nature of its life."
- Rachel Carson.
3. "Many children... delight in the small and inconspicuous."
- Rachel Carson.
4. “To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.”
- Rachel Carson.
5. "Nature reserves some of her choice rewards for days when her mood may appear to be somber."
- Rachel Carson.
6. "There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature - the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”
- Rachel Carson, 'Silent Spring'.
7. “The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”
- Rachel Carson.
8. "We still talk in terms of conquest. We still haven't become mature enough to think of ourselves as only a tiny part of a vast and incredible universe."
- Rachel Carson.
9. "The question is whether any civilization can wage relentless war on life without destroying itself, and without losing the right to be called civilized."
- Rachel Carson.
10. “In nature, nothing exists alone.”
- Rachel Carson, 'Silent Spring'.
11. "The aim of science is to discover and illuminate truth. And that, I take it, is the aim of literature, whether biography or history."
- Rachel Carson.
12. "The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster."
- Rachel Carson.
13. "There is no drop of water in the ocean, that does not know and respond to the mysterious forces that create the tide."
- Rachel Carson.
14. "As crude a weapon as the cave man club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life."
- Rachel Carson, 'Silent Spring'.
15. "Knowing what I do, there would be no future peace for me if I kept silent."
- Rachel Carson.
16. "The materials of science are the materials of life itself. Science is the way, the how and the why for everything in our experience."
- Rachel Carson.
Famous Rachel Carson Quotes
Here is a 'Silent Spring' quote by Rachel Carson, followed by some of her other quotes.
17. “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
- Rachel Carson, 'Silent Spring'.
18. "This pollution is for the most part irrecoverable; the chain of evil it initiates not only in the world that must support life but in living tissues is for the most part irreversible."
- Rachel Carson.
19. "The entomologist's dream of the built-in insecticide was born when workers in the field of applied entomology realized they could take a hint from nature: they found that wheat growing in soil containing sodium selenate was immune to attack by aphids or spider mites."
- Rachel Carson, 'Silent Spring'.
20. "By acquiescing in an act that causes such suffering to a living creature, who among us is not diminished?"
- Rachel Carson.
21. "Man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself."
- Rachel Carson.
22. “Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth, are never alone or weary of life.”
- Rachel Carson.
23. “It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility. ”
- Rachel Carson, 'The Sense Of Wonder'.
24. "The road - the one less traveled by - offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth."
- Rachel Carson.
25. "It seems to me, then, that there can be no separate literature of science."
- Rachel Carson.
26. “The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place.”
- Rachel Carson.
27. "The fabric of life on the one hand delicate and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways."
- Rachel Carson, 'Silent Spring'.
28. "The choice, after all, is ours to make."
- Rachel Carson.
29. "But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.”
- Rachel Carson, 'The Sea Around Us'.
30. "To understand the living present, and the promise of the future, it is necessary to remember the past."
- Rachel Carson.
31. "If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.”
- Rachel Carson, 'The Sense Of Wonder'.
32. "We live in a scientific age, yet we assume that knowledge of science is the prerogative of only a small number of human beings, isolated and priest-like in their laboratories."
- Rachel Carson.
33. "Man undoes the built-in checks and balances by which nature holds the species within bounds."
- Rachel Carson.
34. "If there is poetry in my book about the sea, it is not because I deliberately put it there, but because no one could write truthfully about the sea and leave out the poetry.”
- Rachel Carson.
35. "For the sense of smell, almost more than any other, has the power to recall memories and it's a pity we use it so little."
- Rachel Carson.
36. "It is not half so important to know as to feel."
- Rachel Carson.
Rachel Carson Environmental Quotes
Here are some Rachel Carson quotes about the environment. These Rachel Carson sayings will make you want to do more to save our beautiful planet.
37. “It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life."
- Rachel Carson, 'The Sea Around Us'.
38. "The most alarming of all man's assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials."
- Rachel Carson.
39. "Nature has introduced great variety into the landscape, but man has displayed a passion for simplifying it."
- Rachel Carson.
40. "Those who love and free nature are never alone."
- Rachel Carson.
41. "The winds, the sea, and the moving tides are what they are. If there is wonder and beauty and majesty in them, science will discover these qualities."
- Rachel Carson.
42. "How could intelligent beings seek to control a few unwanted species by a method that contaminated the entire environment and brought the threat of disease and death even to their own kind?"
- Rachel Carson.
43. "These extraordinary capacities of life have been ignored by the practitioners of chemical control who have brought to their task, no high-minded orientation, no humility before the vast forces with which they tamper.”
- Rachel Carson, 'Silent Spring'.
44. “Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species - man - acquired significant power to alter the nature of the world. ”
- Rachel Carson.
45. "There is one quality that characterizes all of us who deal with the sciences of the earth and its life - we are never bored."
- Rachel Carson.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Rachel Carson quotes then why not take a look at climate change quotes, or wilderness quotes.
Main image credit: Catherine Zibo / Shutterstock.com
Article image credit: neftali / Shutterstock.com
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Master of Arts specializing in Mass Communication/Media Studies
Srija ChandaMaster of Arts specializing in Mass Communication/Media Studies
An aspiring media professional, Srija is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Mass Communication at St. Xavier's University, Kolkata, after completing her degree in journalism. With experience in PR and social media, she has also honed her leadership skills through her participation in a youth parliament. Srija's interests include devouring books, watching movies, and exploring new places through travel.
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