People are the common denominator of progress; no improvement is possible with unimproved people.

If we are concerned about our great appetite for materials, it is plausible to decrease waste, to make better use of stocks available, and to develop substitutes. But what about the appetite itself? The major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialised countries

Inventions that are not made, like babies that are not born, are rarely missed. In the absence of new developments, old ones may seem very impressive for quite a long while.

In the world of minor lunacy the behaviour of both the utterly rational and the totally insane seems equally odd.

Ralph [ Nader] is an old friend of mine, and he does a useful job in displaying a position.

My rule on honorary degrees has always been to have one more than Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

Technology, under all circumstances, leads to planning; in its higher manifestations it may put the problems of planning beyond the reach of the industrial firm. Technological compulsions, and not ideology or political will, will require the firm to seek the help and protection of the state.