Rene Dubos Quotes

Human diversity makes tolerance more than a virtue; it makes it a requirement for survival.

If men were to colonize the moon or Mars—even with abundant supplies of oxygen, water, and food, as well as adequate protection against heat, cold, and radiation—they would not long retain their humanness, because they would be deprived of those stimuli which only Earth can provide. Similarly, we shall progressively lose our humanness even on Earth if we continue to pour filth into the atmosphere; to befoul soil, lakes, and rivers; to disfigure landscapes with junkpiles; to destroy wild plants and animals that do not contribute to monetary values; and thus transform the globe into an environment alien to our evolutionary past. The quality of human life is inextricably interwoven with the kinds and variety of stimuli man receives from the Earth and the life it harbors, because human nature is shaped biologically and mentally by external nature. (Rene Dubos qtd. in Kaltreider)

At every moment, anyone who dares to predict the future depends largely on the projection of present trends: but as the microbiologist Rene Dubos has said, "Trend is not destiny." Malthus wisely never put much rhetorical force into his predictions of future population size. He deserves neither positive nor negative credit in this area. A word about prediction. Embarrassing experiences, coupled with Dubos's warning, have led demographers to state repeatedly that they do not make predictions: only projections — projections of present trends. Trends may change with little warning. After two repetitions in the daily press, what begins as a projection metamorphoses into a prediction in the minds of readers. In spite of their warnings, demographers are repeatedly castigated for making predictions that don't come true.

We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do.