Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty.

Land is not merely soil, it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants and animals.

Too much safety seems to yield only danger in the long run.

One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of March thaw, is the Spring.

We all strive for safety, prosperity, comfort, long life, and dullness.

My favorite quote: The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land. In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such.

Wilderness is a resource which can shrink but not grow.