Celebrate Our Planet with These Earth Day Quotes

There are plenty of wonderful ways to celebrate Earth Day this April 22. You can begin by joining a local Great Global Cleanup crew picking up trash in your area. You can make special environmentally-themed crafts with your kiddos, or dine on sustainable goodies, or even plant a few trees. And of course you can always donate to environmental causes. But no matter what you do to honor the planet, you should be sure to make time to share some of the following Earth Day quotes with friends and family, whether in person, on social media—or both. These messages from poets, politicians, scientists and celebrities bring home the point of the holiday commemorated by more than one billion people, across 190-plus countries: we all need to help protect our planet.

Below, you'll find words of wisdom from people like Jane Goodall, Martin Luther King Jr. and Gaylord Nelson, the Senator from Wisconsin who had the idea for the very first Earth Day, back in 1970. You might want to memorize a few of these quotes, so you can consider them not just on April 22, but anytime you're out and about in nature, whether you're gardening, hiking, or just kicking it in the backyard by the outdoor fireplace. They'll inspire you to make every single day an Earth Day!

• "Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries." —Jimmy Carter

• "A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers but borrowed from his children." —John James Audubon

• "The ultimate test of man's conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard." —Gaylord Nelson

• "Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known." —Carl Sagan

• "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not every man’s greed." —Gandhi

• "The earth is what we all have in common." —Wendell Berry

• "There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew." —Marshall McLuhan

• "I firmly believe nature brings solace in all troubles." —Anne Frank

• "We don’t own the planet Earth; we belong to it. And we must share it with our wildlife." —Steve Irwin

• "A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people." —Franklin D. Roosevelt

• "There is a pleasure in the pathless woods. There is a rapture on the lonely shore. There is society, where none intrudes by the deep sea, and music in its roar. I love not man the less, but nature more." —Lord Byron

• "For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver." —Martin Luther King Jr.

• "Look profound into nature, and afterward, you will comprehend everything better." —Albert Einstein

• "What’s the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?" —Henry David Thoreau

• "Look after the land and the land will look after you, destroy the land and it will destroy you." —Aboriginal Proverb

• "We only get one planet. Humankind must become accountable on a massive scale for the wanton destruction of our collective home. Protecting our future on this planet depends on the conscious evolution of our species." —Leonardo DiCaprio

• "You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make." —Jane Goodall

• "Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together … all things connect." —Chief Seattle

• "To leave the world better than you found it, sometimes you have to pick up other people’s trash." —Bill Nye

• "He that plants trees loves others besides himself." —Thomas Fuller

• "Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty." —John Ruskin

• "Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children's children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance." —Theodore Roosevelt

• "We are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it." —Barack Obama

• "The environment is the place we as a whole meet, where all have a common intrigue; it is the one thing we all offer." —Lady Bird Johnson

• "The earth has music for those who listen." —William Shakespeare

• "It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living." —David Attenborough

• "If every day were Earth Day we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in." —Neil deGrasse Tyson

• "Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money." —Cree Proverb

• "The earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations." —Pope John Paul II

• "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." —John Muir

• "The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it." —Robert Swan

• "We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed. Everything needs to change—and it has to start today." —Greta Thunberg

• "One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between man and nature shall not be broken." —Leo Tolstoy

• "Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter." —Rachel Carson

• "Time spent among trees is never time wasted." —Katrina Mayer

• "For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it." ―Jacques Cousteau

• "And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair." —Kahlil Gibran

• "The whole world is, to me, very much 'alive'—all the little growing things, even the rocks. I can’t look at a swell bit of grass and earth, for instance, without feeling the essential life—the things going on-within them." —Ansel Adams

• "We can do this. This is the biggest emergent social movement in all of history. We can do this. And if anybody thinks that we don’t have the political will, remember, political will is itself a renewable resource." —Al Gore

• "Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you." —Frank Lloyd Wright

• "To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug." —Helen Keller

• "Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise.” —George Washington Carver

• "Land really is the best art." —Andy Warhol

• "Twenty-five years ago people could be excused for not knowing much, or doing much, about climate change. Today we have no excuse." —Desmond Tutu

• "The most environmentally-friendly product is the one you didn’t buy." —Joshua Becker

You Might Also Like

• 70 Impressive Tiny Houses That Maximize Function and Style

• 30+ Paint Colors That Will Instantly Transform Your Kitchen