“I am not in any hurry to grow up.”

Far and away, the greatest threat to the ocean, and thus to ourselves, is ignorance. But we can do something about that.

You should be afraid if you are in the ocean and don’t see sharks.

Ten percent of the big fish still remain. There are still some blue whales. There are still some krill in Antarctica.

It’s a fact of life that there will be oil spills, as long as oil is moved from place to place, but we must have provisions to deal with them, and a capability that is commensurate with the size of the oil shipments.

I would love to slip into the skin of a fish and know what it’s like to be one. They have senses that I can only dream about.

Ocean acidification – the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is turning the oceans increasingly acid.

My first encounter with the ocean was on the Jersey Shore when I was three years old and I got knocked over by a wave.

There’s something missing about how we’re informing the youngsters coming along about what matters in the world. We teach them the numbers and the letters, but we fail to communicate the importance of our connection to the living world.

Hold up a mirror and ask yourself what you are capable of doing, and what you really care about. Then take the initiative – don’t wait for someone else to ask you to act.

Protecting vital sources of renewal – unscathed marshes, healthy reefs, and deep-sea gardens – will provide hope for the future of the Gulf, and for all of us.

When I first ventured into the Gulf of Mexico in the 1950s, the sea appeared to be a blue infinity too large, too wild to be harmed by anything that people could do.

I want everybody to go jump in the ocean to see for themselves how beautiful it is, how important it is to get acquainted with fish swimming in the ocean, rather than just swimming with lemon slices and butter.

Bottom trawling is a ghastly process that brings untold damage to sea beds that support ocean life.

No water, no life. No blue, no green.

America gains most when individuals have great freedom to pursue personal goals without undue government interference.

Ice ages have come and gone. Coral reefs have persisted.

Any commodity that sees its price going higher will see new mines opening up.

It’s nice to know there’s a big world with many perspectives. I tend to get so stuck in my own small world easily, and going out into the world reminds me that I’m not the center of the world – in a good way.

I’d be a conservative if I’d never met any. They’re selfish, mean-spirited, egocentric, reactionary, and boring.

I do not have any other way of saying it. I think it happens but once and only to the very young when it feels like your skin could ignite at the mere touch of another person. You get to love like that but once.

A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others.

I am not bound for any public place, but for ground of my own where I have planted vines and orchard trees, and in the heat of the day climbed up into the healing shadow of the woods.

I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices today than any of you to secure peace.

In general, any form of exercise, if pursued continuously, will help train us in perseverance. Long-distance running is particularly good training in perseverance.