Paul R. Ehrlich Quotes

6 Sourced Quotes

The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts.

Paul R. Ehrlich
Overdrafts on aquifers are one reason some of our geologist colleagues are convinced that water shortages will bring the human population explosion to a halt. There are substitutes for oil; there is no substitute for fresh water.

Paul R. Ehrlich
Solving the population problem is not going to solve the problems of racism… of sexism… of religious intolerance… of war… of gross economic inequality—But if you don't solve the population problem, you're not going to solve any of those problems. Whatever problem you're interested in, you're not going to solve it unless you also solve the population problem. Whatever your cause, it's a lost cause without population control.

Paul R. Ehrlich
The key to understanding overpopulation is not population density but the numbers of people in an area relative to its resources and the capacity of the environment to sustain human activities; that is, to the area's carrying capacity. When is an area overpopulated? When its population can't be maintained without rapidly depleting nonrenewable resources.... By this standard, the entire planet and virtually every nation is already vastly overpopulated.

Paul R. Ehrlich
If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000 (Quote from 1969).

Paul R. Ehrlich
Actually, the problem in the world is that there are too many rich people.

Paul R. Ehrlich