Inspiring quotes UK: Difference between revisions

A

“It’s not me that is ‘hard to reach’ it’s those people with the money & power that are”
anon person described as excluded ^[1]

"To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment."
Jane Austen

B

"The tree, which moves some to tears of joy, is, in the eyes of others, only a green thing that stands in the way. As a man is, so he sees."
William Blake

"Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist."
Kenneth Boulding

"Complementary currencies can reveal to us that, even in the poorest places, there are vast living assets - ideas, skills, time, love even - that can turn our ideas of scarcity on their heads."
David Boyle / Community currencies activism

"Go with your gut instinct. Be innovative. Innovation is about challenge, challenging others, challenging yourself, your own perceptions. If its hasn't got a challenge in it let someone else do it - you go and do something that is unique."

Barbara Willis Brown of the Birmingham (UK) based organisation Scawdi - taken from a podcast on the Grassroots Channel ^[4]

C

"The energy descent is going to take a hell of a lot of energy dissent!"
The Camp for Climate Action ^[5] / Climate action UK

D

"The power of the web fundamentally stems from joining things up and sharing, ..."
David De Roure, professor at the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, member of IW3C2 (the International World Wide Web Conference Committee)

F

"A chasm is opening between people and mainstream politics. Britain needs a strong movement to campaign for democratic and constitutional reform and tackle some of the more difficult issues regarding engaging citizens in the political process."
Peter Facey

G

"Think Globally, Act Locally ^W"
Patrick Geddes

"If the rhetoric of community-led regeneration is to be translated into real change, then informal networks are crucial to the journey . . ."
Alison Gilchrist

H

"My passion isn’t for hydro, it’s for people taking control of their own futures." Ann Harding, Settle Hydro ^[7] / Community energy

"For sure, the days of neighbourhood online networks are not far off. Local nets will give you all this and better, more efficiently, less expensively, with genuine options for user-involvement and interaction - and by extension in my view, conversational democracy. But without the paper." ^[8] Kevin Harris / Communities online UK

"Permaculture inspires empowerment, cooperation and self-reliance. The greatest contribution you can make is to take responsibility for your own actions, to look after your children, and connect with the people around you in your community."
Andy Holdaway ^[9]

References

J

"We are social creatures, our behaviours are shaped and constrained by social norms and expectations. Negotiating change is best pursued at the level of groups and communities. Social support is particularly vital in breaking habits, and in devising new social norms and more sustainable patterns of consumption. Government can play a vital role in nurturing and supporting community based social change."
Professor Tim Jackson, University of Surrey

K

"Most people participate in their communities not as part of organised groups, but in doing acts of kindness"
Professor Carolyn Kagan, Professor of Community Social Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University.

"The poetry of the earth is never dead."
John Keats

"The difficulty lies not in the new ideas but in the escaping the old ones"
John Maynard Keynes

L

"We have grown in numbers to the point where our presence is perceptibly disabling the planet like a disease. As in human diseases there are four possible outcomes: destruction of the invading disease organisms; chronic infection; destruction of the host; or symbiosis - a lasting relationship of mutual benefit to the host and invader.

I believe that we have the capacity to choose symbiosis over self-destruction. But we need a rapid, massive and global awakening at a personal level if we are not to go the way of any disease successfully thwarted by its host."
James Lovelock

Localisation has to be the way forward for a Europe that wants more jobs, better social conditions, AND an improved environment, and at the same time a non-exploitative relationship with Eastern Europe and the developing world."
Caroline Lucas, MEP for the South East of England / Localism

M

"There are striking variations in health across different areas of the UK and what is clear is that not only physical aspects of the area, like pollution, affect health, but also things like the level of trust, tolerance and the level of social cohesion."
Sir Michael Marmot

"It is no longer sufficient to develop passive lists or reports to ‘inform’ citizens of changes in our environment. We need to engage with citizens and ask how they can ‘inform’ us. Obtaining and using local knowledge will help us empower citizens, and it will also give us a better indication of what we need to do to be truly sustainable." ^[1] Jacqueline McGlade / Citizens data initiative

"Every great movement must
experience three stages:
ridicule, discussion and adoption."
John Stewart Mill

"No political challenge can be met by shopping." ^[2]

"Faced with a choice between the survival of the planet and a new set of matching tableware, most people would choose the tableware". ^[3]

"The denial of climate change, while out of tune with the science, is consistent with, even necessary for, the outlook of almost all the world's economists."

George Monbiot ^{W [4]}

"...the growing connectedness of the world is the most important social and economic fact of our times."
Geoff Mulgan

References

O

"The public gets what it asks for: ask for the "good stuff" and that's what they'll have to supply, Similarly, refuse to buy the "bad stuff" and the market for it will collapse. The power of the public is potentially enormous - let's use it."
Bill Oddie

P

"Government needs to be at least as good as any other sector in communication, and arguably should set new standards. It ought to be a sensitive and comprehensive listener. It must be an efficient and prompt disseminator of information. It has to answer questions accurately, honestly and completely. It must be accountable for what it does, prepared to explain and defend its decisions but also admit its mistakes."
The Phillis Report

Q

R

"The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation."
Bertrand Russell

"you can never move faster than the speed of trust" when it comes to community engagement.
Cormac Russell ^[1]

S

"There are no environmental solutions to environmental problems, only social, economic and political ones"
Charles Secrett

"The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred."
George Bernard Shaw / Community involvement

"Unless we involve people in the definition of their problems and the choice of solutions, we will produce a thin governing system that produces public services that patch over problems rather than going to their heart."
Gerry Stoker, Chair of the New Local Government Network (NLGN) think-tank and Professor of Political Science at Manchester University. / Community involvement

T

"If I had to choose one word - it would be Generosity. It's about having the generosity of spirit to recognise that however fantastic you think your idea is there are loads and loads of other people out there who have also got great ideas and who have been working really hard...Realise that you are surrounded by people who are trying to do good, but haven't quite managed to crack it yet. If you've got a great idea go out and find them and say 'How can my idea help you?' rather than thinking about 'How can I start from scratch?'. It's about basic human generosity."
Matthew Taylor

"One day soon, our high streets, parks, libraries, housing hubs, train stations, and cafes will become spaces for us to meet, repair, make, borrow, lend, grow, bake, reflect, care, and eat together." Rebecca Trevalyan FRSA ^[3] / Community resources UK

W

"Everytime I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race."
H. G. Wells

"Good ecology is not an optional extra but a matter of justice."
Rowan Williams

"The closer we get to a virtuous circle, in which our work, our home life, our ethics and our spirituality are mutually reinforcing, the closer we will be to achieving genuine sustainability."
James Wilsdon

References