Sparing the enduring and ennobling from the hungry, hasty, and selfish
Published by marco on
“Lyndon B. JohnsonWe have rescued a magnificent and meaningful treasure from the chainsaw. For once, we have spared what is enduring and ennobling from the hungry and the hasty and the selfish act of destruction. The redwoods will stand because the men and women of vision and courage made their stand, refusing to suffer any further exploitation of our national wealth, and greater damage to our environment or any larger debasement of that quality and beauty without which life itself is quite barren.”
—37th U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson
From Roaming Charges: Sturm und Drang Warnings by Jeffrey St. Clair (CounterPunch), where it was described as “We’ll probably never hear another president speak as forcefully in defense of forests as LBJ did on signing the legislation creating Redwoods National Park.”
That’s probably true. People don’t talk like this anymore in the U.S. Other presidents would say things like this, though. Claudia Scheinbaum, for example.