I've accepted the fact that there's a beginning and end to everything. All species are born, evolve, and then die off. We're going through the 6th great extinction and the large mammals are going first and, you know what - we're large mammals!

At Patagonia, making a profit is not the goal because the Zen master would say profits happen 'when you do everything else right'.

But I'm really trying to run this company like it is going to be here a hundred years from now. That's what's important.

Evil doesn’t have to be an overt act; it can be merely the absence of good. If you have the ability, the resources, and the opportunity to do good and you do nothing, that can be evil.

Surfing and climbing are both useless sports. You get to be conquistadors of the useless. You climb to the summit and there is nothing there. And you could hike to the top from another direction. How you get there is the important part. It's the same with surfing.

Going back to a simpler life is not a step backwards.

Going back to a simpler life based on living by sufficiency rather than excess is not a step backward.