To those devoid of imagination a blank place on the map is a useless waste; to others, the most valuable part.

The rich diversity of the world's cultures reflects a corresponding diversity in the wilds that gave them birth.

For one species to mourn the death of another is a new thing under the sun.

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

The practice of conservation must spring from a conviction of what is ethically and aesthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient. A thing is right only when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the community, and the community includes the soil, waters, fauna, and flora, as well as people.

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.

It is part of wisdom never to revisit a wilderness, for the more golden the lily, the more certain that someone has gilded it