70 Earth Day Quotes to Inspire an Eco-Friendly Lifestyle

By Max Cordova

Writer, Teacher and Inspirational quote curator

Published October 15, 2022

These Earth Day quotes will remind you we are all responsible for treating the earth with respect.

Our planet is under fire, and despite all the bad news we hear about climate change and global warming, some individuals and companies are doing what they can to positively impact the Earth.

Why is important to promote environmental protection?

Though we still have a long way to go, making a difference — even if it is small – in our own lives can go a long way.

Earth Day, which started in 1970, is celebrated on April 22nd every year.

So, to get you in the mood to protect and love our home, these Earth Day quotes can inspire a more Green life — not just on Earth Day, but every day!

Earth Day is a great way to bring awareness to how we can help the planet by:

reusing items
recycling
reducing our consumption and carbon footprint

Also, check out these Greta Thunberg quotes on climate change and more.

Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration.

Check out our inspirational quotes category page for more inspirational life quotes.

Earth Day Quotes on Making a Difference

1. “As cheesy as it sounds, truly every day is Earth Day.” ― Ashlan Gorse Cousteau

You will also enjoy our article on green quotes.

2. “Every day is Earth Day, and I vote we start investing in a secure climate future right now.” ― Jackie Speier

3. “Be the change you wish to see in this world.” ― Gandhi

4. “It is our collective and individual responsibility to protect and nurture the global family, to support its weaker members and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live.” ― Dalai Lama

5. “There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet.” ― Brooke Medicine Eagle

6. “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” ― George Bernard Shaw

7. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead
If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to check out our collection of Margaret Mead quotes challenging societal stereotypes.

8. “Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries.” — Jimmy Carter

9. “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.” — Jane Goodall

10. “Environmentally friendly cars will soon cease to be an option… they will become a necessity.” — Fujio Cho

11. “The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for.” — Ernest Hemingway

Don’t forget these powerful Steve Irwin quotes that will activate your inner planet activist.

Earth Day Quotes on Sustainability

12. “Earth Day should encourage us to reflect on what we are doing to make our planet a more sustainable and livable place.” ― Scott Peters

13. “If we are ever to halt climate change and conserve land, water and other resources, not to mention reduce animal suffering, we must celebrate Earth Day every day – at every meal.” ― Ingrid Newkirk

14. “Every New Yorker has the right to clean air, safe drinking water, and healthy communities to raise their children—and you can rest assured that I will aggressively protect that right, not just on Earth Day, but every day.” ― Eric Schneiderman

15. “Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.” ― Cree Indian Proverb

16. “What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?” ― Henry David Thoreau

17. “Save the Earth, it’s our only source of chocolate!” ― Unknown

18. “There’s so much pollution in the air now that if it weren’t for our lungs there’d be no place to put it all.” ― Robert Orben

19. “When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.” ― Benjamin Franklin

20. “I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use.” — Mother Teresa

21. “The Earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations.” — John Paul II

22. “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

23. “We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do.” — Barbara Ward

Also, read these climate change quotes and sayings to inspire you to take action.

Earth Day Quotes on Humans

24. “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” ― Native American Proverb

25. “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” ― Walt Kelly

26. “Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth.” ― Henry David Thoreau

27. “He that plants trees loves others beside himself.” ― Thomas Fuller

28. “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” ― Gandhi

29. “The earth is what we all have in common.” ― Wendell Berry

30. “Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet, and the winds long to play with your hair.” ― Kahlil Gibran

31. “Man must feel the earth to know himself and recognize his values…. God made life simple. It is man who complicates it.” ― Charles A. Lindbergh

32. “Man is still the greatest miracle and the greatest problem on this earth.” ― David Sarnoff

33. “I really wonder what gives us the right to wreck this poor planet of ours.” ― Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

34. “The Earth has a skin, and that skin has diseases, one of its diseases is called man.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

35. “There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.” ― Marshall McLuhan

36. “One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between man and nature shall not be broken.” — Leo Tolstoy

37. “The environment is where we all meet; where we all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share.” — Lady Bird Johnson

38. “The ultimate test of man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.” — Gaylord Nelson

You might also like these quotes from Jane Goodall about the environment.

Earth Day Quotes on Nature

39. “For 200 years we’ve been conquering nature. Now we’re beating it to death.” ― Tom McMillan

40. “Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” ― Rachel Carson

41. “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ― Lao Tzu

42. “Trees are Earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.” ― Rabindranath Tagore

43. “Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better.” ― Einstein

44. “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” ― John Muir

45. “Earth laughs in flowers.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

46. “Time spent among trees is never time wasted.” — Anonymous

47. “Away, away, from men and towns, To the wild wood and the downs, — To the silent wilderness, Where the soul need not repress its music.” — Percy Bysshe Shelley

48. “Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty.” — John Ruskin

49. “Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise.” — George Washington Carver

50. “To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.” — Helen Keller

Earth day quotes to appreciate our planet

51. “When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught, and the last river is polluted; when to breathe the air is sickening, you will realize, too late, that wealth is not in bank accounts and that you can’t eat money.” -Alanis Obomsawin

52. “The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats, and biodiversity.” –Gaylord Nelson

53. “The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.” –Rachel Carson

54. “An understanding of the natural world and what’s in it is a source of not only a great curiosity but great fulfillment.” –David Attenborough

55. “I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy.” –Sylvia Plath

56. “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together; all things connect.” –Chief Seattle

57. “To leave the world better than you found it, sometimes you have to pick up other people’s trash.” –Bill Nye

58. “Dear old world, You are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.” –Lucy Maud Montgomery

59. “There is a pleasure in the pathless woods. There is a rapture on the lonely shore. There is society, where none intrudes by the deep sea, and music in its roar. I love not man the less, but nature more.” –Lord Byron

60. “Teach us to walk the soft earth as relatives to all that live.” –Sioux prayer

Don’t forget to also read these John Muir quotes on the mountains of life.

Earth Day Quotes To Appreciate Nature

61. “This world is but a canvas to our imagination.” — Henry David Thoreau

62. “Where flowers bloom, so does hope.” — Lady Bird Johnson

63. “Ahh, Earth Day, the only day of the year where being able to hacky-sack will get you laid.” — Jon Stewart

64. “The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved.” — Richard Rogers

65. In all things of nature there is something marvelous.” — Aristotle

66. “When the Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear, when that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them.” — Chief Seattle

67. “Waste not the smallest thing created, for grains of sand make mountains, and atomies infinitely.” — Eric Knight

68. “Let us permit nature to have her way. She understands her business better than we do.” — Michel de Montaigne

69. “The poetry of the earth is never dead.” — John Keats

70. “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” — Frank Lloyd Wright

Which of these Earth Day quotes resonated with you best?

Unfortunately, we won’t be able to fix the world overnight.

There has been too much damage on our planet to find the be-all-end-all solution.

But some of us are trying, and therefore Earth Day exists—to promote environmental protection worldwide.

Each of us has a responsibility to treat the earth with respect, and though it’s countries and corporations that can make the biggest impact today, it doesn’t hurt to be more Green in our own lives.

Whether by educating yourself more about environmental issues, getting involved in an organization that strives to help the planet, or even growing your own food in your garden, there are so many little ways to make a big difference.

These Earth Day quotes will remind you that we are all in this fight together to make the world a place that we can continue to love, cherish, and live on for, hopefully, many more years to come.