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Wangari Maathai Quotes

Wangari Maathai quotes

Kenyan Activist April 1, 1940 – September 25, 2011

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Quotes

You cannot blame the mismanagement of the economy or the fact that we have not invested adequately in education in order to give our people the knowledge, the skills and the technology that they need in order to be able to use the resources that Africa has to gain wealth. Wangari Maathai
I don't really know why I care so much. I just have something inside me that tells me that there is a problem, and I have got to do something about it. I think that is what I would call the God in me. Wangari Maathai
For me, one of the major reasons to move beyond just the planting of trees was that I have tendency to look at the causes of a problem. We often preoccupy ourselves with the symptoms, whereas if we went to the root cause of the problems, we would be able to overcome the problems once and for all. Wangari Maathai
I know there is pain when sawmills close and people lose jobs, but we have to make a choice. We need water and we need these forests. Wangari Maathai
When I first started, it was really an innocent response to the needs of women in rural areas. When we started planting trees to meet their needs, there was nothing beyond that. I did not see all the issues that I have to come to deal with. Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai quote: "You can educate people on how to preempt their own conflict."
You can educate people on how to preempt their own conflict. Wangari Maathai
And so I'm saying that, yes, colonialism was terrible, and I describe it as a legacy of wars, but we ought to be moving away from that by now. Wangari Maathai
When resources are degraded, we start competing for them, whether it is at the local level in Kenya, where we had tribal clashes over land and water, or at the global level, where we are fighting over water, oil, and minerals. So one way to promote peace is to promote sustainable management and equitable distribution of resources. Wangari Maathai
There's a general culture in this country to cut all the trees. It makes me so angry because everyone is cutting and no one is planting. Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai quote: "I am working to make sure we don't only protect the..."
I am working to make sure we don't only protect the environment, we also improve governance. Wangari Maathai
We are very fond of blaming the poor for destroying the environment. But often it is the powerful, including governments, that are responsible. Wangari Maathai
We owe it to ourselves and to the next generation to conserve the environment so that we can bequeath our children a sustainable world that benefits all. Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai quote: "Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make..."
Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven't done a thing. You are just talking. Wangari Maathai
Human rights are not things that are put on the table for people to enjoy. These are things you fight for and then you protect. Wangari Maathai
When you think of all the conflicts we have - whether those conflicts are local, whether they are regional or global - these conflicts are often over the management, the distribution of resources. If these resources are very valuable, if these resources are scarce, if these resources are degraded, there is going to be competition. Wangari Maathai

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