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 MaathaiWe tend to put the environment last because we think the first thing we have to do is eliminate poverty and send children to school and provide health.
Wangari MaathaiIt would be good for us Africans to accept ourselves as we are and recapture some of the positive aspects of our culture.
Wangari MaathaiI'm sure that many people who are involved in an environmental effort ... they will be pretty much encouraged by this recognition.
Wangari MaathaiWe can work together for a better world with men and women of goodwill, those who radiate the intrinsic goodness of humankind. To do so effectively, the world needs a global ethic with values which give meaning to life experiences and, more than religious institutions and dogmas, sustain the non-material dimension of humanity. Mankind's universal values of love, compassion, solidarity, caring and tolerance should form the basis for this global ethic which should permeate culture, politics, trade, religion and philosophy. It should also permeate the extended family of the United Nations.
Wangari Maathai