Nobody in the world is completely dependent on another person, but we are all interdependent. — Wangari Maathai

We owe it to ourselves and to the next generation to conserve the environment so that we can bequeath our children a sustainable world that benefits all. — Wangari Maathai

The developed world should be willing to help [Africa] and support her and make this energy affordable. — Wangari Maathai

I don’t believe [Africa] is ready to shift–and she needs to shift. So she needs to get the technology and she can only get that technology from the developed world. — Wangari Maathai

The little grassroots people can change this world. — Wangari Maathai

We can love ourselves by loving the earth. — Wangari Maathai

We all share one planet and are one hummanity, there is no escaping this reality. — Wangari Maathai

It’s the little things citizens do. That’s what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees. — Wangari Maathai

That’s the way I do things when I want to celebrate, I always plant a tree. — Wangari Maathai

What a friend we have in a tree, the tree is the symbol of hope, self improvement and what people can do for themselves. — Wangari Maathai

When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and hope. — Wangari Maathai

Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven’t done a thing. You are just talking. — Wangari Maathai

There’s a general culture in this country to cut all the trees. It makes me so angry because everyone is cutting and no one is planting. — Wangari Maathai

You can make a lot of speeches, but the real thing is when you dig a hole, plant a tree, give it water, and make it survive. That’s what makes the difference — Wangari Maathai

It is wonderful when you don’t have the fear, and a lot of the time I don’t … I focus on what needs to be done instead. — Wangari Maathai

Some say that AIDS came from the monkeys, and I doubt that because we have been living with monkeys from time immemorial, others say it was a curse from God, but I say it cannot be that. — Wangari Maathai

There comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness . . . that time is now. — Wangari Maathai

There are opportunities even in the most difficult moments. — Wangari Maathai

We do the right thing not to please people but because it’s the only logically reasonable thing to do, as long as we are being honest with ourselves–even if we are the only ones. — Wangari Maathai

We need to promote development that does not destroy our environment. — Wangari Maathai

You can’t reduce poverty in a vacuum. You are doing it in an environment. — Wangari Maathai

Quite often when you help poor people, they don’t think about the environment. They think about survival. — Wangari Maathai

We are very fond of blaming the poor for destroying the environment. But often it is the powerful, including governments, that are responsible. — Wangari Maathai

The generation that destroys the environment is not the generation that pays the price. That is the problem. — Wangari Maathai

You cannot protect the environment unless you empower people, you inform them, and you help them understand that these resources are their own, that they must protect them. — Wangari Maathai

We 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 Maathai

I am working to make sure we don’t only protect the environment, we also improve governance. — Wangari Maathai

In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy and peace. — Wangari Maathai

It gradually became clear that the Green Belt Movement’s work with communities to repair the degraded environment could not be done effectively without participants embracing a set of core spiritual values. — Wangari Maathai

It’s a matter of life and death for this country. The Kenyan forests are facing extinction and it is a man–made problem. — Wangari Maathai

All of us have a God in us, and that God is the spirit that unites all life, everything that is on this planet. — Wangari Maathai

Once people see that you improve you life if you are educated, then education becomes a valuable tool and people want it. — Wangari Maathai

Disempowerment–whether defined in terms of a lack of self–confidence , apathy, fear, or an inability to take charge of one’s own life–is perhaps the most unrecognised problem in Africa today. — Wangari Maathai