304 quotes found
"For us, democracy is a question of human dignity. This includes the political liberties, the right to freely express our views, the right to criticize and to influence opinion. It embraces the right to health and work, to education and social security."
"Former Prime minister Tage Erlander spoke on radio a year ago about the people's home and about how he visited his senile mother at a residential hospital outside of Karlstad. When he came to visit her she told him; I'm so happy here. Everyone is so nice to me and I get good care and nice food. But who is paying for all this? Is it you Tage? And Erlander said; no I'm not paying, you're paying for this yourself mother. You have paid for this your entire life. You have grown up in this society, you have taken care of the family all these years, you have been a good citizen. And you have the right to be taken care of when you get old and infirm, not because of charity, not because you have a thick wallet, but because you are a Swedish citizen. This is your society, our society. You have the same right to this as anyone else. That is the welfare state and it is our greatest pride!"
"Apartheid cannot be reformed. It has to be eliminated."
"Human beings will find a balanced situation when they do good things not because God says it, but because they feel like doing them."
"They build their democratic institutions with pedantic conscientiousness."
"The bourgeoisie seemed to live in the illusion that an effort for peace presupposed an almost unreserved support for the American position. The hallmark of a balanced bourgeois critique seems to be that it should be heard as little as possible. Preferably be almost silent. That it is surrounded by so many reservations that it loses every meaning and that it is guaranteed not to affect any business."
"Yet, alongside Western weaknesses, there were also serious problems for the Soviet system, while the American position was less bleak, in both absolute and relative terms, than the successive electoral defeats of presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in presidential elections in 1976 and 1980 might suggest. Moreover, the failure of the Communists to benefit substantially from the changes in Portugal, Spain and Greece was matched by Communist weakness elsewhere in Western Europe. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, French President from 1974 to 1981, and Helmut Schmidt, German Chancellor from 1974 to 1982, combined to act as a very strong stabilising force and to relaunch the EEC project. Within the Socialist International, the so-called Socialist Triangle of Willy Brandt, Olof Palme, Swedish Prime Minister, and Bruno Kreisky, Austrian Chancellor, was dominant. In Italy, the Communist Party, the most powerful in Western Europe, adopted a ‘Euro-Communism’ that was opposed to Soviet direction. Enrico Berlinguer, who became Party Secretary in 1973, a key figure, was committed to the existing democratic system and pursued what was termed the ‘historic compromise’ with the established Christian Democrat-dominated political system. A pact was negotiated in 1976, with the Communist Party agreeing not to try to overthrow the Christian Democratic government. Euro-Communism was a term coined in 1975 by Western European Communist leaders keen to demonstrate their democratic credentials. More generally in Western Europe, the declining position of heavy industries was a challenge to the trade unions that were central to left-wing political parties, and notably to the Communists."
"Roughneck and rudeness, We should be using, On the ones who practice wicked charms, For the sword and the stone, Bad to the bone, Battle’s not over, Even when it's won, And when a child is born into this world, It has no concept, Of the tone the skin is living in."
"I never said, "I want to be alone." I only said, "I want to be let alone! There is all the difference."
"I am bewildered by the thousands of strange people who write me letters. They do not know me. Why do they do that?"
"I t'ank I go home."
"The mystery surrounding Garbo was as thick as a London fog."
"Garbo still belongs to that moment in cinema when capturing the human face still plunged audiences into the deepest ecstasy, when one literally lost oneself in a human image as one would in a philtre, when the face represented a kind of absolute state of the flesh, which could be neither reached nor renounced."
"Today this young woman —The Garbo as she is known — is the most glamorous figure in the whole world; there is no one with a more magnetic, romantic or exotic personality, there never has been a film star with so wide an appeal... Greta Garbo is Queen of Hollywood, her salary is fabulous, her word law. She has pointed features in a round face, her mouth is wide and knife-like. Her teeth are large and square and like evenly matched pearls; her eyes are pale, with lashes so long that when she lowers her lids they strike her cheeks; her complexion is of an unearthly whiteness and so delicate that she looks to have one layer of skin less than other people, and the suspicion of a frown is sooner perceptible."
"Every man's harmless fantasy mistress. By being worshiped by the entire world she gave you the feeling that if your imagination had to sin, it can at least congratulate itself on its impeccable taste."
"Her instinct, her mastery over the machine, was pure witchcraft. I cannot analyze this woman's acting. I only know that no one else so effectively worked in front of a camera."
"Garbo is lonely. She always has been and she always will be. She lives in the core of a vast aching aloneness. She is a great artist, but it is both her supreme glory and her supreme tragedy that art is to her the only reality. The figures of living men and women, the events of everyday existence, move about her, shadowy, unsubstantial. It is only when she breathes the breath of life into a part, clothes with her own flesh and blood the concept of a playwright, that she herself is fully awake, fully alive."
"We knew each other. We talked. We passed each other going to the set of our own films. We were doing our jobs. We had great mutual respect."
"You're the purple light of a summer night in Spain. You're the National Gallery; you're Garbo's Salary; you're cellophane!"
"She is the most miraculous blend of personality and sheer dramatic talent that the screen has ever known and her presence in The Painted Veil immediately makes it one of the season's cinema events."
"What, when drunk, one sees in other women, one sees in Garbo sober."
"Except physically, we know little more about Garbo than we know about Shakespeare."
"I think an artist who abandons his art is the saddest thing in the world, sadder than death. There must have been something about Garbo's film career that profoundly revolted her."
"What is happiness? It depends on two assets, which fortunately I have. They are good health and a short memory."
"It's not whether you really cry. It's whether the audience thinks you are crying."
"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous."
"I've never sought success in order to get fame and money; it's the talent and the passion that count in success."
"I have no regrets. I wouldn't have lived my life the way I did if I was going to worry about what people were going to say."
"I think my life has been wonderful. I have done what I felt like. I was given courage and I was given adventure and that has carried me along. And then also a sense of humor and a little bit of common sense. It has been a very rich life."
"For me, Ingrid is a wonderful mother and Roberto, a wonderful father. You should see them with their children. There was nothing intellectual about it. They were like animals with their young, so tactile and sensual. The joy of touching the baby's skin! They were always rolling around on the floor with the twins and the little boy. Once, I remember watching Ingrid doing that, and I thought to myself, "This is just like a mother dog with her puppies.""
"Before anything else, she is an actress. I believe that any great artist is an artist first. For example, my father was an artist before he was a husband and a father. Yes, I must say it. Ingrid is that way, too. But she also has many admirable qualities as a woman. She is so honest that she will always prefer a scandal to a lie. If she's at a party and people are talking about a writer who is unknown to her, she'll come out flatly and say, "I haven't read him." But at the same time, she understands more than many people who pretend to be knowledgeable. While she admits her limitations, she has great instinct and understanding."
"Now it happens to have been the Social Democrats who have regimented the important institutions in society, but it would have been dangerous whichever party it had been. Development and diversity depend on independent initiatives and competition. When everyone thinks alike not much gets thought."
"Basically, what I believe in is neither capitalism nor globalization... I believe in man's capacity for achieving great things and in the combined force resulting from encounters and exchanges. I plead for greater liberty and a more open world... because it provides a setting which liberates individuals and their creativity as no other system can. It spurs the dynamism which has led to human, economic, scientific, and technical advances, and which will continue to do so. Believing in capitalism does not mean believing in growth, the economy, or efficiency. Desirable as these may be, these are only the results. Belief in capitalism is, fundamentally, belief in mankind."
"My aim is freedom and voluntary relations in all fields. The market economy is the result of this in the economic realm; in the cultural realm it means freedom of expression; in politics, democracy and the rule of law; in social life, the right to live according to one's own values and to choose one's company."
"Since 1965 [....] the richest fifth of the world's population increased its average income by 75 percent. For the poorest fifth of the world's population, the increase has been faster still, with average incomes more than doubling during the same period."
"In the affluent world we have had capitalism in one form or another for a couple of centuries. That is how countries of the West became "the affluent world." Capitalism has given people both the liberty and the incentive to create, produce, and trade, thereby generating preosperity."
"As a result of this continuous improvement of productivity through the division of labor and technical advancement, one hour's labor today is worth about 25 times more than it was in the mid-19th century [....] Growth and productivity alone are capable of raising real wages in the long run."
"Is the problem here lack of access to clean water? No. Is it starvation? No. Is it laziness? Definitely not. No, it's poverty due to lack of growth, due to lack of reform. Everything else is just a symptom of that. In fact, even the biggest horrors - famine and war - have political causes. No democracy has ever been afflicted by a famine, and no two democracies have ever made war on each other. Africa has been subjected by socialism, gangster rule and protectionism. Africa has not been too globalized; it has been too marginalized."
"Ska vi vara ärliga så är en hel del av jobbproblematiken kopplad till utrikes födda."
"We have a strong economy but we don't have the job creation we need. We want more job creation."
"The Nordic welfare model is in many aspects a good model but it needs more of a choice for individuals."
"Om alla liknar Carl bekräftas vanföreställningarna av moderaterna. Det blir ett parti för Carl Bildt-kopior."
"Ursvenskt är bara barbariet. Resten av utvecklingen har kommit utifrån. [...] Det kan ibland vara bra att ödmjukt påminna om att väldigt mycket av det som är Sverige har skapats i utveckling, just för att vi varit öppna för att ta emot andra människor och andra erfarenheter"
"I våldets Sverige så får hederliga medborgare flytta åt sidan. I rädsla för att vara nästa som drabbas av våldsverkaren, med vapen i hand, med drogögon mitt i ansiktet, så vet vi inte vad den här personen är kapabel att göra"
"I don't get it... did we look like transvestites or something?"
"I'd hate the sound of thirty thousand people booing."
"I believe that consciousness is the way information feels when being processed."
"So with each advance in understanding come new questions. So we need to be very humble. We shouldn't have hubris and think that we can understand everything. But history tells us that there is good reason to believe that we will continue making fantastic progress in the years ahead."
"If I get a parking ticket, there is always a parallel universe where I didn't. On the other hand, there is yet another universe where my car was stolen."
"... I would rather have questions that I can't answer than answers that I can't question. (variation of a remark by Richard Feynman)"
"Yet the complexity of all this pales in comparison to the patterns of information processing in your brain. Your roughly 100 billion neurons are constantly generating electrical signals (“firing”), which involves shuffling around billions of trillions of atoms, notably sodium, potassium, and calcium ions. The trajectories of these atoms form an extremely elaborate braid through spacetime, whose complex intertwining corresponds to storing and processing information in a way that somehow gives rise to our familiar sensation of self-awareness. There’s broad consensus in the scientific community that we still don’t understand how this works, so it’s fair to say that we humans don’t yet fully understand what we are. However, in broad brush, we might say this: You’re a pattern in spacetime. A mathematical pattern. Specifically, you’re a braid in spacetime—indeed, one of the most elaborate braids known."
"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."
"We have to get away from this idea today with some fact-checking sites which might themselves have an agenda and you just trust it because of its reputation. You want to have these sort of systems [where] they earn your trust and that is completely transparent."
"Evolution endowed us with intuition only for those aspects of physics that had survival value for our distant ancestors, such as the parabolic orbits of flying rocks (explaining our penchant for baseball). A cavewoman thinking too hard about what matter is ultimately made of might fail to notice the tiger sneaking up behind and get cleaned right out of the gene pool. Darwin’s theory thus makes the testable prediction that whenever we use technology to glimpse reality beyond the human scale, our evolved intuition should break down. We’ve repeatedly tested this prediction, and the results overwhelmingly support Darwin. At high speeds, Einstein realized that time slows down, and curmudgeons on the Swedish Nobel committee found this so weird that they refused to give him the Nobel Prize for his relativity theory. At low temperatures, can flow upward. At high temperatures, colliding particles change identity; to me, an electron colliding with a and turning into a Z-boson feels about as intuitive as two colliding cars turning into a cruise ship. On microscopic scales, particles schizophrenically appear in two places at once, leading to the quantum conundrums... On astronomically large scales... weirdness strikes again: if you intuitively understand all aspects of black holes... put down this book and publish your findings before someone scoops you on the Nobel Prize for quantum gravity… [also,] the leading theory for what happened [in the early universe] suggests that space isn’t merely really really big, but actually infinite, containing infinitely many exact copies of you, and even more near-copies living out every possible variant of your life in two different types of parallel universes."
"What is real? Is there more to reality than meets the eye? Yes! was Plato’s answer over two millennia ago. In his famous cave analogy, he likened us to people who’d lived their entire lives shackled in a cave, facing a blank wall, watching the shadows cast by things passing behind them, and eventually coming to mistakenly believe that these shadows were the full reality. Plato argued that what we humans call our everyday reality is similarly just a limited and distorted representation of the true reality, and that we must free ourselves from our mental shackles to begin comprehending it."
"I... ended up at the , focusing on environmental issues. I wanted to... make our planet a better place, and felt that the main problem... [was] that we didn't properly use... technology... I... was intrigued by... creating economic incentives that aligned... egoism with the common good. ...I soon grew disillusioned, concluding that economics was... intellectual prostitution... rewarded for saying what the powers that be wanted to hear. ...[T]he book that changed everything: ' ...[W]hat did Feynman see that I missed in high school? ...I sat down with... '... and started reading, "If... all scientific knowledge were to be destroyed... " ...I read on ...I felt like I was having a religious experience I finally got it!"
"[W]hat I had been missing... and what Feynman realized: physics is the ultimate intellectual adventure, the quest to understand the deepest mysteries of our Universe. ...[I]t makes us see more clearly, adding to the beauty and wonder of the world ...[T]he lens of physics adds more beauty to the world ..."
"So this book... [is] my personal quest for the ultimate nature of reality."
"We're all born with curiosity, but at some point, school usually manages to knock that out of us. ...[M]y main responsibility as a teacher isn't to convey facts, but to rekindle that lost enthusiasm for asking questions."
"[W]e've repeatedly underestimated not only the size of our cosmos, but also the power of our human mind to understand it."
"There's no better guarantee of failure than convincing yourself that success is impossible..."
"Eratosthenes... knew that the Sun was straight overhead in... Syene at noon on the summer solstice, but that it was 7.2 degrees south of straight overhead in , located 794 kilometers farther north. He concluded... 794 kilometers corresponded to 7.2 degrees out of the 360 degrees... around Earth's circumference, so that the circumference must be... 39,700 km..."
"Aristarchos of Samos... was able to use to figure out... the distance between the Earth and the Sun. His conclusion... the Sun was about twenty times farther... than the Moon and therefore twenty times bigger than the Moon. In other words, the Sun was... over five times bigger than the Earth in diameter. This insight prompted Aristarchos to propose the heliocentric hypothesis long before Nicolaus Copernicus... It turned out to be quite difficult to tell precisely when the Moon was 50% illuminated, and the correct Sun-Moon angle... isn't 87 degrees but about 89.85 degrees... This makes... the Sun... almost twenty times further away... and about 109 times larger than the Earth... [T]his wasn't corrected until almost two thousand years later, so when Copernicus came along... the overall scale of his Solar System model was about twenty times too small..."
"Some ancients speculated that the stars were small holes in a black sphere through which distant light shone through. ...Giordano Bruno suggested that they were... like our Sun, just much farther away, perhaps with their own planets and civilizations... the Catholic Church had him burned at the stake in 1600."
"The very fabric of our physical world, space itself, could be a purely mathematical object in the sense that its only intrinsic properties are mathematical... as dimensionality, and topology."
"... achieved a breakthrough. Please hold your thumb at arm's length and alternate closing your left and right eyes a few times. ...[Y]our thumb appears to jump left and right by a certain angle relative to the background... [M]ove your thumb closer... and you'll see this jump angle growing. Astronomers call this jump angle '... [W]e can... compare telescopic photographs taken six months apart, when Earth is on opposite sides of the Sun. ...Bessel noticed ... ...moved a tiny angle, revealing its distance to be almost a million times that to the Sun... Now that Bessel knew the distance he used... [the] to figure out how luminous it was... in the same ballpark as the Sun... Giordano Bruno had been right after all!"
"In 1814... Joseph von Fraunhofer invented... a spectrograph, which let him separate white light into into a rainbow of colors... He discovered mysterious dark lines in the rainbow... and... the detailed positions of these lines... depended on what the light source was made of, constituting a kind of spectral fingerprint. During the following decades such spectra were measured and catalogued for many... substances. ...Sensationally, the spectrum of sunlight revealed that the Sun... contained elements... such as . Moreover... it revealed that stars are made of roughly the same mixture of gases as the Sun! This clinched it in favor of Bruno: stars are distant suns..."
"(…) the '. Here we interpret the wavefunction for an object as describing not some funky imaginary ensemble of possibilities for what the object might be doing, but rather the actual spatial collection of identical copies of the object that exist in our infinite space. Moreover, quantum uncertainty that you experience simply reflects your inability to self-locate in the Level I multiverse, i.e., to know which of your infinitely many copies throughout space is the one having your subjective perceptions."
"It’s absolutely crucial that we don’t conflate this internal reality with the external reality that it’s tracking, because the two are very different. My brain’s internal reality is like the dashboard of my car: a convenient summary of the most useful information. Just as my car’s dashboard tells me my speed, fuel level, motor temperature, and other things useful for a driver to be aware of, my brain’s dashboard/reality model tells me my speed and position, my hunger level, the air temperature, highlights of my surroundings and other things useful for the operator of a human body to be aware of."
"(…) the bottom line is that if you believe in an external reality independent of humans, then you must also believe that our physical reality is a mathematical structure. Nothing else has a baggage-free description. In other words, we all live in a gigantic mathematical object—one that’s more elaborate than a dodecahedron, and probably also more complex than objects with intimidating names such as Calabi-Yau manifolds, tensor bundles and Hilbert spaces, which appear in today’s most advanced physics theories. Everything in our world is purely mathematical—including you."
"A famous thorny issue in philosophy is the so-called infinite regress problem. For example, if we say that the properties of a diamond can be explained by the properties and arrangements of its carbon atoms, that the properties of a carbon atom can be explained by the properties and arrangements of its protons, neutrons and electrons, that the properties of a proton can be explained by the properties and arrangements of its quarks, and so on, then it seems that we’re doomed to go on forever trying to explain the properties of the constituent parts. The Mathematical Universe Hypothesis offers a radical solution to this problem: at the bottom level, reality is a mathematical structure, so its parts have no intrinsic properties at all!"
"(…) time is not an illusion, but the flow of time is. So is change. In spacetime, the future exists and the past doesn’t disappear."
"This implication of the Mathematical Universe Hypothesis is pretty radical, so please pause (…) take it in and think about it. What you’re aware of right at this moment feels not like a photo but like a movie clip. This movie isn’t reality—it exists only in your head, as part of your brain’s reality model. It contains lots of information about the actual external physical reality—as long as you aren’t dreaming or hallucinating—but still constitutes only a very heavily edited version of reality, akin to the evening news on TV, mainly featuring certain highlights of patterns nearby in space and time that your brain thinks are useful for you to be aware of."
"(…) no spectator is needed, because your consciousness basically is your reality model. I think that consciousness is the way information feels when being processed in certain complex ways. Since the different parts of your brain interact with each other, different parts of your reality model can interact with each other, so the model of you can interact with your model of the outside world, giving rise to the subjective sensation of the former perceiving the latter."
"My guess is that we’ll one day understand consciousness as yet another phase of matter. I’d expect there to be many types of consciousness just as there are many types of liquids, but in both cases, they share certain characteristic traits that we can aim to understand."
"We humans replace the bulk of both our "hardware" (e.g., our cells) and our "software" (e.g., our memories) many times in our life span. Nonetheless, we perceive ourselves as stable and permanent. Likewise, we perceive objects other than ourselves as permanent. Or rather, what we perceive as objects are those aspects of the world that display a certain permanence. For instance, when observing the ocean, we perceive the moving waves as objects because they display a certain permanence, even though the water itself is only bobbing up and down. Similarly (…) we perceive only those aspects of the world that are fairly stable against quantum decoherence."
"If there’s a singularity, would the resulting AI, or AIs, feel conscious and self-aware? Would they have an internal reality? If not, they’re for all practical purposes zombies. Of all traits that our human form of life has, I feel that consciousness is by far the most remarkable. As far as I’m concerned, it’s how our Universe gets meaning, so if our Universe gets taken over by life that lacks this trait, then it’s meaningless and just a huge waste of space."
"But I’ve suddenly changed my mind and turned more optimistic about our cosmic significance. Why? Because I’ve come to believe that advanced evolved life is very rare, yet has huge future potential, making our place in space and time remarkably significant."
"Let’s instead define life very broadly, simply as a process that can retain its complexity and replicate. What’s replicated isn’t matter (made of atoms) but information (made of bits) specifying how the atoms are arranged. When a bacterium makes a copy of its DNA, no new atoms are created, but a new set of atoms are arranged in the same pattern as the original, thereby copying the information. In other words, we can think of life as a self-replicating information-processing system whose information (software) determines both its behavior and the blueprints for its hardware."
"How is technology changing the hierarchical nature of our world? History reveals an overall trend toward ever more coordination over ever-larger distances, which is easy to understand: new transportation technology makes coordination more valuable (by enabling mutual benefit from moving materials and life forms over larger distances) and new communication technology makes coordination easier. When cells learned to signal to neighbors, small multicellular organisms became possible, adding a new hierarchical level. When evolution invented circulatory systems and nervous systems for transportation and communication, large animals became possible. Further improving communication by inventing language allowed humans to coordinate well enough to form further hierarchical levels such as villages, and additional breakthroughs in communication, transportation and other technology enabled the empires of antiquity. Globalization is merely the latest example of this multi-billion-year trend of hierarchical growth."
"Why is at the beginning of time so low, and the entropy in a black hole so high? ...We ...don't know that the entropy was low ...We don't even know if there was a beginning of time. ...[E]ntropy ...is this measure of how messy things are, so my room ...tends to get higher and higher entropy, messier and messier. Why... eggs fall on the floor and break, and not fly up and unbreak? People argued about that for a very long time until the shocking insight... that it was very low 13.4 billion years ago at the time when those baby pictures of the universe were given off... the cosmic microwave background. So our flow of time... has something to do with the origin of our universe? That... we have learned. ...[I]f you take seriously the idea of inflation and also the theory that the does not collapse, according to Hugh Everett, you can do some math and get an explanation... but... it's a wonderful mystery, and I'm open to all ideas... and black holes... there are great truths yet to be discovered."
"For Neils Bohr and the Copenhagen interpretation, I respond with Hamlet, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." ...The does not collapse. ...There is absolutely no experimental evidence for it. It appears to collapse, yes, but what Hugh Everett showed so beautifully... in the... 50s and 60s is that even if it does not collapse... If you just drop that entirely and just... go with the Schrödinger equation all the way, it's going to appear like it collapses... according to all the usual Copenhagen interpretation rules... [I]t doesn't even have anything particularly fundamental to do with quantum mechanics. ...If you have any sort of physics which lets you make copies of an observer, classically or quantum mechanically, you will experience apparent randomness. ...Suppose you ...clone yourself ...so you can get twice as much done? ...One copy ...wakes up in Room 1 and the other... in Room 2... Are you going to see... a sign that says Room 1 or will you see a 2? You cannot predict this... because... there will be two experiences. ...It seems random. I'm going to see either... with equal probability. This is what fundamentally is happening in quantum physics too. The quantum reality is just bigger than the one we thought we lived in before quantum mechanics, and it has this ability that it can start with something which is one way and make [it] effectively being in two ways. [W]hen we make a measurement, sometimes we find out which copy we were. So I wouldn't worry too much about the way a function collapse[s]."
"It depends... on what you measure outrageousness in... If what you mean is that something is more extravagant if it... involves somehow having more particles, or reality being bigger... then sure. But... maybe the kind of simplicity that we should value with Occam's razor is rather that the math is simple. The equations are simple."
"Here... is the Schrödinger equation [i \hbar \frac{d}{d t}\vert\Psi(t)\rangle = \hat H\vert\Psi(t)\rangle]... and what it's actually saying is that the state of the world, that's this Greek letter Ψ there with the bracket around it... It's saying that the rate of change of it... depends on the current state of the world, when you do this operation on it and for the math nerds, this is a linear operation... and what that just means is, as Everett has pointed out and many others have known for a very long time is that, in some circumstances, two different solutions to this can do their parallel thing. We can talk at... length about the discoveries... about decoherence and why it is that sometimes these different parallel branches are unaware or each other, but my point is... if you give a science nerd colloquium... at a physics department... ideally, you should also start in the same way you start discussing this with your grandma. Just at a very high level... here are the cool ideas, and then you can go as deep as the audience or the listener wants, from there."
"We don't know for sure that the Schrödinger equation is actually that accurate a description of nature either. That's why it's so exciting to see what's going to happen with the quantum computer efforts... Will they ultimately fail because physics isn't fully described by the Schrödinger equation, or will they actually succeed... This is where ultimately our experimental friends will... give us crucial insights..."
"I'll be the first to admit that we ultimately don't know what's going on exactly with quantum mechanics, and my personal guess... is that even quantum mechanics is probably an emergent theory, maybe an approximation of... something deeper. Maybe we can get it out of GU somehow, but... I also would guess... the opposite of Roger Penrose... that gravity doesn't really have much to do with this. I think you can... be in a spaceship far away... from any... important gravitating objects and do your little quantum experiments with a Schrödinger-like apparatus and you would get all the same fascinating things happening. So... ignoring gravity... ignoring relativistic effects altogether, you still have this thing people love fighting about. Does the wave function collapse or not, and that's why I'm so interested in this kind of discussion..."
"[I]t's... a big mistake as a species if we don't create institutions and governments which support science. There have been a number of... economic studies that have shown... that investing in basic science is the highest return on investment, basically ever... Inventing the ... just basic... physics research... has benefited us so much, in so many ways... Inventing calculus... didn't cost that much, but it's... so, so valuable... This comes back to the whole media question again. There are much more people who have heard about the Kardashians than... can name three living scientists... let alone twenty. ...[W]e've created a culture where scientists... not only are they not particularly known... or viewed as role models or heroes, but they are even very actively attacked by... folks with power with whom what scientists are saying is inconvenient... One of the best things we can do for science funding is to create a less screwed-up media landscape where we actually appreciate how much we benefit from scientific research. That governments will actually support it again. ...We spend two billion dollars a day or more, in this county alone, on military... If you can get a puny, puny fraction of that into scientific research, we wouldn't even be having to have this conversation about how we get funding."
"My favorite movie of all time is... Life of Brian. We really should try and reenact this epic skit, "What have the Romans ever done for us?" by saying "What has physics ever done for us? ...But ...besides ...the internet and transistors, what has physics ever done for us?""
"Physicists, we have a sort of arrogance... which has harmed us a lot. ...We forget that we're in a bubble and ...that there's actually a science of how you persuade people ...of how to communicate, and other people have studied that at great length. ...[T]he average person who works making cigarette ads is much more scientific about the way they get their message out than the average physicist. ...[I]t comes not from stupidity ...but from arrogance ...We're not going to stoop so low that we're going to be scientific about how we communicate... about how we advocate. We have to get off our high horses... If you get invaded by Hitler's army, you shouldn't just say... "Tanks are immoral, we're going to fight them with swords." We have to be scientific also about standing up for ourselves and our ideas... A second mistake... spending much more time infighting within our community of physicists, or... having one science pitted against another... for a few more tax dollars... losing sight of the fact that there's a tiny trickle of money that flows to all of the sciences combined... compared to... generic fruits of... corporate lobbying and random waste... So, get out of our bubble again. If we look at the big picture, it's kind of pathetic... that you have physicists, biologists, chemists, who together have built up most of the wealth of the world, and managed to be so incredibly navel-gazing and busy with infighting, and old-fashioned in how they communicate, that they have to come begging for money, and people don't listen to them."
"Tegmark’s career is a rather unusual story, mixing reputable science with an increasingly strong taste for grandiose nonsense. In this book he indulges his inner crank, describing in detail an utterly empty vision of the "ultimate nature of reality." What's perhaps most remarkable about the book is the respectful reception it seems to be getting... Before publishing his first paper, he changed his name from Shapiro to Tegmark (his mother’s name), figuring that there were too many Shapiros in physics for him to get attention... A very odd aspect of this whole story is that while Tegmark's big claim is that Math=Physics, he seems to have little actual interest in mathematics and what it really is as an intellectual subject. ...[W]hile "mathematical structures" are invoked in the book as the basis of everything, there's little to no discussion of the mathematical structures that modern mathematicians find interesting (although the idea of "symmetries" gets a mention). ...Perhaps the explanation of all this is somehow Freudian, since Tegmark’s father is the mathematician Harold Shapiro."
"My heart was beating. I got sick in my stomach and my hands were sweating — everything you feel when you are under pressure. I've been nervous before, but nothing like this."
"I'm going back to my tour where I belong. The attention was more than I expected. The golf course wasn't a problem. It was just the things around it. All the preparation I've done in the last month weighed on me."
"Ron Sirak, a golf writer and friend, was quoted as saying, "Annika is no longer a female golfer. She's a golfer." That's truly all I ever aspired to be."
"I just feel that there's a little bit of lack of respect and class just to kind of leave a tournament like that and then come out and practice here, especially being the hostess. You know, I don't know the situation, if it's injury or whatever it is. It's just -- it just seemed really weird."
"It is … undeniable that no settlement can be just and complete if recognition is not accorded to the right of the Arab refugee to return to the home from which he has been dislodged by the hazards and strategy of the armed conflict between Arabs and Jews in Palestine. The majority of these refugees have come from territory which … was to be included in the . The exodus of Palestinian Arabs resulted from panic created by fighting in their communities, by rumours concerning real or alleged acts of terrorism, or expulsion. It would be an offence against the principles of elemental justice if these innocent victims of the conflict were denied the right to return to their homes while Jewish immigrants flow into Palestine, and, indeed, at least offer the threat of permanent replacement of the Arab refugees who have been rooted in the land for centuries."
"I was just sixteen and Visconti and the team took me to a gay nightclub. Almost all the crew were gay. The waiters at the club made me feel very uncomfortable. They looked at me uncompromisingly as if I was a nice meaty dish. I knew I couldn't react. It would have been social suicide. But it was the first of many such encounters."
"My career is one of the few that started at the absolute top and then worked its way down. That was lonely."
"I was, however, more interested in steam engines than in electric ones. In other words, I was more romantic than technical."
"The scientific method I was closest to was the Linnaean: discover, collect, examine."
"We always feel younger than we are. I carry inside myself my earlier faces, as a tree contains its rings. The sum of them is me. The mirror sees only my latest face, while I know all my previous ones."
"My total experience of school was mixed, with more darkness than light. Just as my image of society has become."
"As when you were a child and some tremendous hurt Was pulled over your head like a sack- Glints of sunshine through the mesh And the hum of the cherry trees.But it doesn’t help, the great hurt Covers head and torso and knees And though you are able to move sometimes Spring brings no happiness.Yes, shimmering wool cap, pull it down over your face Stare through the mesh. Out on the bay, the rings of water multiply soundlessly Green leaves darken the earth."
"Above ground, in tropical flood, earth's greenery stands with lifted arms, as if listening to the beat of invisible pistons."
"He's as great as anyone else. He's talking very groovy too. It's easy to understand what he means. But it's the same when it comes to Cuba. It's not only Castro, it's everybody. But he's perfect for that job, I tell you."
"We are deeply concerned about the situation in Russia with regards to human rights. There are several examples of this situation, such as the new law requiring NGOs to register as “foreign agents”, the law banning homosexual “propaganda”, problems with the rule of law and arbitrary judicial processes, and court rulings against the opposition."
"There is an alarming increase of violence and harassment against gay people, something that is being legitimized by the regime as they brand homosexuality as something abnormal and dangerous to children."
"I do not take my mandate from the European people."
"It started as a friendship that grew into something more."
"We decided to turn off all cell phones and computers."
"It’s a thing we have in the family. We have a very different sound for us, and Chris jokes about it with me; the hilarious thing was that we saw the video without reacting to it."
"For me it was also very special. It was so beautiful with all the children singing. I thought I would be nervous, but I was surprisingly calm. Think it will be like when you know what you want in life, then it is quiet."
"A honeymoon is such a special time in life when you just want to be alone. It is in this little bubble of emotion and joy and happiness over the wedding. To then be chased [actually, let’s be honest here, they were stalked] by someone who breaks the bubble made us very sad."
"Until now, there has been a lot of missions for the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, which I think is doing a great job. I try to be with them if they have the event or larger events. And, of course if it’s official missions I try to participate when I can."
"It was so much fun the other day. Dad took out all of our old toys that he found in the old barn. Now Estelle is playing with the old stuff and she loves it."
"Everything happens for a reason. I really believe it. Just then I needed change and I needed to get away from Sweden for a while. I must say that I am grateful that it happened, because otherwise, had I not [moved to New York City] I would have not been married to this amazing man."
"That is something that I of course will continue to work on. To work for Sweden, to work for the people of Sweden and together with my family continue to work in the coming years for the monarchy in Sweden."
"We are strong and we will work for the monarchy in the future and I feel strengthened by that, more than before."
"I have been King for 38 years, for which I am very proud, and during those many years I have felt a strong support from the Swedish people."
"For me it is important to live in harmony with developments in Sweden and all over the changing world around us that we are actually part of."
"Sweden is the country a good reputation in the world around us. It is something that the Queen and I often experience during our state visit. Both the country and the people are perceived very positively. Our services and products are something we should be proud of. Sweden respected as a nation and it is with pleasure and pride that I represent our country. For example, noted Nobel Prize much and it helps to show up Sweden as a nation that promotes education and science."
"We are a small nation and need to cooperate across borders. As a result of the good reputation that Sweden has since long it is easy to build relationships."
"My concern for environmental issues and the challenge to leave our fragile planet in good condition for future generations. However, we take advantage of our opportunities, all the positive and hopeful I meet during my travels in this country and abroad, I am convinced that together we can a promising future."
"I'm constantly embarrassed at the level of attention actors get and the level of money that we get. It's completely disproportionate. I think you have to feel guilty about it. I think it makes you a better person to keep reminding yourself."
"I think hubris comes from insecurity. Confidence comes in a more rooted sense; part of being confident is being able to say, "I can be really shitty," and to accept that. But also not to crumble under it."
"You almost create this infinite universe for the character that you’re playing and then you’re compromising it into the story that you’re doing. Whatever character you’re playing, you kind of explore endlessly more than what’s on the page. You use that exploration to do the performance that’s in the film, but hopefully, people will see all that work and preparation in those little glimpses of scenes and moments. Oh, there’s something there. There’s so much more happening with this character."
"Imagine countless wiki editors all using each others work as basis for their own, reasoning what must be true from what they already assume is. Wouldn't that make for a weird reality?"
"Mansplaining is a sexist term designed to silence men via gender shaming."
"Selectively choosing what gets condemned and forcing people to join sides while hiding behind semantics is pure evil."
"David Eddings: I'm afraid that ignorance, hate, racism, and violence will be exacerbated by silence. If speaking out is not an answer then what is? Markus Persson: Reading up on history, thinking for yourself, and not being an idiot."
"Privilege is a made up metric used to silence and repress. We are all different, and that is ok. We listen to individuals and help each other based on individual strengths and needs. We do not generalize based on skin color, bigot."
"Om man hade nyckeln till hur en psykisk sjukdom kan uppkomma och hur man ska ta hand om den hade vi väl klarat oss bättre här i världen."
"Jag vill inte att minnet av Ted [Gärdestad] förknippas för mycket med hans sjukdom utan också hur positiv han var. Han kunde ju göra det här trots rösterna han hörde. Han sade ibland att han skulle ställa rösterna inför rätta, de skulle stå till svars för grejerna de gjorde mot honom."
"...ar det ju viktigt att låtarna inte innehöll för många ord på “p”, eftersom det gav ett poppande ljud. “K” var inte heller så poppis. Däremot var “u” en bra bokstav och så gärna mycket vokaler i texterna..."
"I min värld vill jag ju ta upp så mycket positiva vibrationer som finns. Samma gäller vår musik. Jag känner ju att det finns så stort genomslag."
"Jag vill ha en egen måne, jag kan åka till Där jag kan glömma att du lämnat mig Jag kan sitta på min måne och göra vad jag vill Där stannar jag tills allting ordnat sig."
"Sol, vind och vatten är Det bästa som jag vet Men det är på dig jag Tänker I hemlighet Sol, vind och vatten Höga berg och djupa hav Det, är mina drömmar vävda av"
"I, I've got no fear of flyin' high 'Cause high above the rainbow, my sun's gonna shine And nothing can happen as long as you're mine So I'll make my landing alive"
"Kenneth Gärdestad var en bra kille, en bra människa och en textförfattare som jag verkligen såg upp till."
"“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying. Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity.” — in relation to the humanitarian aid mission she joined."
"“We were 12 peaceful volunteers sailing on a civilian ship carrying humanitarian aid on international waters… We did not break laws. We did nothing wrong.” — after her deportation/interception in international waters."
"“The words we will use to describe people who are standing on the wrong side of history, supporting or committing war crimes, those words do not exist yet, those slurs do not exist yet, but we will be using them …” — addressing political leaders during the Gaza-aid flotilla."
"“I think the world needs many more young angry women, to be honest, especially with everything going on right now.” — comment after being described as “angry” by a political figure."
""If watching children being systematically starved, over two million people being systematically starved by Israel is not enough to motivate you to get out of the couch, then what is it going to take?"
""If you care about a habitable planet you should also care about humans. … We can’t pretend to care about the environment while we ignore the suffering and oppression of people.”"
""Of course it’s good that the Palestinian cause is more on the agenda, but these symbolic gestures will lead nowhere unless they are accompanied with real action.”"
""For me, there is no way of distinguishing the two. We cannot have climate justice without social justice. … No matter the cause of the suffering—CO₂ or bombs or state repression—we have to stand up.”"
""Our governments and the international community are failing to uphold human dignity. They contribute to the impunity of those responsible for ecological and human genocide. That leaves us as the only adults in the room.”"
""We are speeding in the wrong direction on the climate crisis.”"
""We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying. Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity.”"
"We were 12 peaceful volunteers sailing on a civilian ship carrying humanitarian aid on international waters. We did not break laws. We did nothing wrong."
"absolutely nothing compared to what people are going through in Palestine and especially Gaza right now”"
"“I was very clear in my testimony that we were kidnapped on international waters and brought against our own will into Israel,”"
"“This is yet another intentional violation of rights that is added to the list of countless other violations that Israel is committing.”"
"“Also to send solidarity and say that we see you, we see what is happening and we cannot accept just witnessing all this and doing nothing.”"
"“I think the world needs many more young angry women, to be honest,”"
"This mission is about Gaza, it isn’t about us. And no risks that we could take could even come close to the risks the Palestinians are facing every day."
"We have drones flying above us every night, but for Palestinians, especially in Gaza, those drones are dropping bombs constantly,"
"We must always stand up and speak up against oppression, imperialism, war, all forms of discrimination and racism. To stand with Palestine is to be human. We cannot allow ourselves to be silenced,"
"“We cannot remain silent. No one can remain silent when there is an ongoing genocide and when people are denied the most basic human needs,”"
"“We need to stop hosting climate conferences in places like Azerbaijan, a country that is repressing its own population to an extreme degree… If we are standing up for justice, that has to mean justice for everyone.”"
"“As the COP29 climate meeting is reaching its end, it should not come as a surprise that yet another COP is failing. … The people in power are yet again about to agree to a death sentence to the countless people whose lives have been or will be ruined by the climate crisis.”"
"Sweden in particular is very good at greenwashing and framing themselves as a climate leader, when we have very high emissions per capita … So we are not a climate leader at all.”"
"We can’t give them any legitimacy in this situation, which is why we are standing here … saying no to greenwashing and no to the Azerbaijani regime.”"
"It is nauseating to see the hypocrisy and double standards of holding a climate-focused conference in Azerbaijan."
"“We are in a planetary emergency and we are not going to stand by and let people lose their lives and livelihood and be forced to become climate refugees when we can do something.”"
"“Sweden is unfortunately not unique in completely ignoring the climate crisis, not treating it as an emergency at all. But actively trying to greenwash, deceive and lie in order to make it seem like they are doing enough… So we are not a climate leader at all.”"
"It is clear that private jets are incompatible with ensuring present and future living conditions on this planet. So we’re not going to let this continue. We’re not going to let the rich, who are responsible for the majority of aviation emissions, get away with sacrificing people and the planet in order to maintain their extreme lifestyles."
"We must remember who the real enemy is.”"
"We are here because we are facing an existential crisis. We are in a planetary emergency, and we are not going to stand by and let people lose their lives and livelihood and be forced to become climate refugees when we can do something.”"
"The climate crisis is only going to get worse and so it is all our responsibilities, all of those who have an opportunity to act must do so.”"
"We are in a planetary emergency (…) It is our duty to demand justice for the future generations.”"
"We feel like we have no other choice but to try new, different methods in order to get our voices heard.”"
"We are not going anywhere. This fight has only just begun."
"We can no longer let the people in power decide what is politically possible."
"We need to think about new things, new ways."
"We did nothing wrong."
"Yesterday I was part of a group that peacefully protested the expansion of a coal mine in Germany. We were kettled by police and then detained but were let go later that evening... Climate protection is not a crime."
""If we do not [phase out fossil fuels], it will be a death sentence for countless people."
"We are still rushing towards the cliff. We could trigger feedback loops that are beyond human control, that would throw countless billions under the bus."
"The coming months and years – right now – will be crucial to what the future looks like. It is what we decide now that will define the rest of humanity’s future."
"We won’t stop speaking out about Gaza’s suffering – there is no climate justice without human rights."
"2023 was the hottest year ever recorded. Climate disasters, wars, oppression, and inequalities further intensified – killing and displacing countless people."
"We have the science on our side."
"This summit, like the one before it, is a pure act of greenwashing."
"The world must pay attention. The people of Georgia deserve to have their voices heard."
"yes, please do enlighten me. email me at [email protected]"
"The Cops are mainly used as an opportunity for leaders and people in power to get attention, using many different kinds of greenwashing. [The Cop conferences] are not really meant to change the whole system... As it is, the Cops are not really working, unless of course we use them as an opportunity to mobilise."
"We are never going back to normal again, because "normal" was already a crisis. What we refer to as "normal" is an extreme system built on exploitation of people and planet. It is a system defined by colonialism, imperialism, oppression and genocide by the so-called Global North to accumulate wealth that still shapes our current world order. Some people say that the system is now malfunctioning, but that is not true. The system is doing exactly what it is meant to be doing. If economic growth is our only priority, then what we are experiencing now should be exactly what we should be expecting."
"I am pleased to announce that I've decided to go net-zero on swear words and bad language. In the event that I should say something inappropriate I pledge to compensate that by saying something nice. #COP26,"
"They invite cherry-picked young people to meetings like this to pretend that they listen to us. But they clearly don’t listen to us. Our emissions are still rising. The science doesn’t lie. We can no longer let the people in power decide what is politically possible. We can no longer let the people in power decide what hope is. Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah, blah, blah. Hope is telling the truth. Hope is taking action. And hope always comes from the people."
"I’m just a teenager... My opinions on this doesn’t matter. You should rather look at the science and whether his policies are in line with the Paris agreements and to stay below 1.5 or even 2 degrees Celsius, and then you can clearly see that, no, it’s not nearly enough in line with the science. That’s not me saying, that’s just black and white, looking at the facts. I would just like you to basically just treat the climate crisis like a crisis. They have said themselves that this is an existential threat... They are just treating the climate crisis as it was a political topic, among other topics and, yeah, treat it as a crisis, that’s the No. 1 step. So what we need now is to raise awareness and to create public opinion to treat the crisis like a crisis. Because if people are not aware of the crisis that we face, of course they wouldn’t put pressure on the elected leaders. So I would just tell him to, to tell the situation as it is... how can you expect support and pressure from voters if you are not treating the crisis like a crisis."
"People need to enhance their knowledge about the environment and demand action against climate change... We need to educate ourselves to understand the global processes linked to the climate crisis, to see what’s happening to our planet. People must learn as much as they can – there’s unlimited amount of information – and spread this information to create a social movement and shift the social norm. Because if we are enough people who demand change and advocate climate action, we will reach a critical mass and will no longer be possible to ignore. It’s not a small task but it’s something that we simply need to do because there’s no other option. Restoring Nature is not only a solution to the climate crisis, but also to the biodiversity crisis and so on."
"The worst-case scenario I guess I’ll buy second-hand, but I don’t need new clothes. I know people who have clothes, so I would ask them if I could borrow them or if they have something they don’t need any more. I don’t need to fly to Thailand to be happy. I don’t need to buy clothes I don’t need, so I don’t see it as a sacrifice. I’m not telling anyone else what to do, but there is a risk when you are vocal about these things and don’t practise as you preach, then you will become criticised for that and what you are saying won’t be taken seriously.... I don’t think it’s selfish to have children. It is not the people who are the problem, it is our behaviour..."
"May 2021 be the year of awakening and real bold change. And let's all continue the never-ending fight for the living planet."
"You can shove your up your arse."
"Inside COP they are just politicians and people in power pretending to take our future seriously, pretending to take the present seriously of the people who are being affected already today by the climate crisis. Change is not going to come from the inside; that is not leadership. This is leadership."
"We say no more blah blah blah. No more exploitation of people and the nature and the planets … no more whatever the fuck they are doing inside there."
"We are sick and tired of it and we are going to make the change whether they like it or not … We are not going to let them get away any more."
"If you want to truly cover the climate crisis, you must also report on the fundamental issues of time, holistic thinking and justice."
"First, the notion of time. If your stories do not include the notion of a ticking clock, then the climate crisis is just a political topic among other topics, something we can just buy, build or invest our way out of. Leave out the aspect of time and we can continue pretty much like today and ”solve the problems” later on. 2030, 2050 or 2060."
"Second, holistic thinking. When considering our remaining carbon budget we need to count all the numbers and include all of our emissions. Currently, you are letting high income nations and big polluters off the hook, allowing them to hide behind the incomplete statistics, loopholes and rhetoric they have fought so hard to create during the last 30 years."
"Third, and most important of all, justice. The climate crisis isn’t just about extreme weather. It’s about people. Real people. And the very people who have done the least to create the climate crisis are suffering the most. And while the Global South is on the frontlines of the climate crisis, it’s almost never on the front pages of the world’s newspapers."
"To … minimize the risks of setting off irreversible chain reactions beyond human control, we need immediate, drastic, annual emission reductions unlike anything the world has ever seen. And as we don’t have the technological solutions that alone will do anything close to that in the foreseeable future, it means we have to make fundamental changes in our society. This is the uncomfortable result of our leaders’ failure to address this crisis."
"The media must hold the people in power accountable for their actions, or inactions."
"We can still avoid the worst consequences, we can still turn this around. But not if we continue like today. You have the resources and possibilities to change the story overnight."
"Whether or not you choose to rise to that challenge is up to you. Either way, history will judge you."
"We are still speeding in the wrong direction. The five years following the Paris agreement have been the five hottest years ever recorded and, during that time, the world has emitted more than 200bn tonnes of CO2. Distant hypothetical targets are being set, and big speeches are being given. Yet, when it comes to the immediate action we need, we are still in a state of complete denial as we waste our time, creating new loopholes with empty words and creative accounting... Leaders should be telling the truth: that we are facing an emergency and we are not doing nearly enough. We need to prioritise the action that needs to be taken right here and right now, because it is right now that the carbon budget is being used up. We need to stop focusing on goals and targets for 2030 or 2050... We need to implement annual binding carbon budgets today. There is hope … we are the hope – we, the people... For me, the hope lies in democracy – it is the people who have the power. If enough people stand up together and repeat the same message, then there are no limits to what we can achieve."
"We are in a global emergency, which affects all of us. But everyone is not suffering its Consequences equally... Africa is being disproportionately hit by the climate crisis, despite contributing to it among the least."
"We can have as many meetings as we like, but the will to change is nowhere in sight. Society must start treating this as a crisis...On Thursday 20 August, it will be exactly two years since the first school strike for the climate took place.... Today, leaders all over the world are speaking of an “existential crisis”. The climate emergency is discussed on countless panels and summits. Commitments are being made, big speeches are given. Yet, when it comes to action we are still in a state of denial. The climate and ecological crisis has never once been treated as a crisis. The gap between what we need to do and what’s actually being done is widening by the minute. Effectively, we have lost another two crucial years to political inaction...."
"We understand the world is complicated and that what we are asking for may not be easy or may seem unrealistic. But it is much more unrealistic to believe that our societies would be able to survive the global heating we’re heading for – as well as other disastrous ecological consequences of today’s business as usual... This mix of ignorance, denial and unawareness is at the very heart of the problem... The only way forward is for society to start treating the crisis like a crisis... We can still avoid the worst consequences. But to do that, we have to face the climate emergency and change our ways. And that is the uncomfortable truth we cannot escape."
"Still waiting for the EU and individual democratic nations to officially condemn the police brutality and attacks on the free press escalating the USA. For how long are we going to stand by, watch and say nothing?"
"The last 2 months the European Central Bank has injected 7,6 billion € into fossil fuels. Allow me to doubt the seriousness of the EUs' so called "green" recovery plan..."
"Devastating to see the development taking place in the USA. Centuries of structural and systematic racism and social injustice won’t go away by itself. We need a global structural change. The injustices must come to an end. #BlackLivesMatter"
"Today is a shameful day for Europe, as we open up a brand new coal power plant. We have signed up to lead the way to avoid a climate disaster - and yet this the signal we send to the rest of the world? How dare you indeed"
"On Saturday @uniper_energy and Finnish state owned @Fortum will open a brand new coal power plant #Datteln4 in Germany. Those in power clearly lied when they said they cared about their children’s future. If you needed proof that their words and promises were empty, this is it."
"In Sweden @FortumSverige is running a huge “green” campaign saying that “The future is already here”, and that they ”have decided to take care of the future”. This takes #greenwashing to a whole new dimension."
"I’m asking everyone to step up and join me in support of UNICEF’s vital work to save children’s lives, to protect health and continue education... Like the climate crisis, the coronavirus pandemic is a child-rights crisis... It will affect all children, now and in the long-term, but vulnerable groups will be impacted the most."
"It seems like the people in power have given up...They say it’s too hard — it’s too much of a challenge. But that’s what we are doing here. We have not given up because this is a matter of life and death for countless people.... Either we choose to go on as a civilization or we don’t... That is as black or white as it gets. There are no gray areas when it comes to survival."
"Very honoured to receive Human Act Award. The prize money - USD $100’000 - will be donated to @unicef . Human Act will match this donation with an additional USD 100,000. Today we’re launching a funding campaign to support UNICEF in the corona crisis."
"I felt very alone that I was the only one who seemed to be worried about this... I was the only one left in this sort of bubble. Everyone else could just continue with their lives as usual, and I couldn’t do that... I thought what the Parkland students did was so brave... Of course, it was not the only thing that got me out of that feeling. I did it because I was tired of sitting and waiting. I tried to get others to join me, but no one was interested and no one wanted to do that. So I said, ‘I’m going to do this alone if no one else wants to do it.’"
"Because you grown-ups don’t give a damn about my future, neither do I. My name is Greta, I am in ninth grade, and I am going on strike from school for the climate. (Her twitter bio)"
"I have been on the road and visited numerous places and met people from all over the globe... I can say that it looks nearly the same everywhere I have been: The climate crisis is ignored by people in charge, despite the science being crystal clear. We don’t want to hear one more politician say that this is important but afterward do nothing to change it. We don’t want more empty words from people pretending to take our future seriously... It shouldn’t be up to us children and teenagers to make people wake up around the world. The ones in charge should be ashamed."
"[In response to Time editor Edward Felsenthal question about how she dealt with all the haters] I would like to say something that I think people need to know more than how I deal with haters."
"A teenager working on her anger management problem (her Twitter profile after Trump told her to chill out)"
"I’m very weak in a sense... I’m very tiny and I am very emotional, and that is not something people usually associate with strength. I think weakness, in a way, can be also needed because we don’t have to be the loudest, we don’t have to take up the most amount of space, and we don’t have to earn the most money...We don’t need to have the biggest car, and we don’t need to get the most attention... We need to care about each other more."
"We can’t just continue living as if there was no tomorrow, because there is a tomorrow. That is all we are saying."
"I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. (to the annual convention of CEOs and world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January)"
"I see the world in black and white, and I don’t like compromising... If I were like everyone else, I would have continued on and not seen this crisis. (if her brain worked differently, she explained) I wouldn’t be able to sit for hours and read things I’m interested in."
"One person stops flying doesn’t make much difference. The thing we should look at is the emissions curve—it’s still rising. Of course something is happening, but basically nothing is happening. The change is going to come from the people demanding action, and that is us."
"People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction. And all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!"
"I want people to unite behind the science... And that is what we have to realize, that that is what we have to do right now.. I’m not the one who’s saying these things. I’m not the one who we should be listening to. And I say that all the time. I say we need to listen to the scientists."
"We have lots of unions who are planning to strike, so, I mean, adults striking from their work. And that is so incredibly important to show that this is such an — this is not just for children or teenagers. This is for everyone. And what we are doing, we are not, of course — I mean, we are striking to disrupt the system..."
"We are facing an existential crisis... it will have a massive impact on our lives in the future, but also now, especially in vulnerable communities. And I think that we should wake up, and we should also try to wake the adults up, because they are the ones who — their generation is the ones who are mostly responsible for this crisis, and we need to hold them accountable."
"I have Asperger's syndrome and that means I'm sometimes a bit different from the norm. And - given the right circumstances - being different is a superpower. It makes you think differently. And especially in such a big crisis like this one we need to think outside the box. We need to think outside our current system, that we need people that think outside the box and who aren't like everyone else."
"It’s insane that a 16-year-old has to cross the Atlantic in order to take a stand, but that’s how it is. It feels like we are at a breaking point. Leaders know that more eyes on them, much more pressure is on them, that they have to do something, they have to come up with some sort of solution. I want a concrete plan, not just nice words.”"
"That happens all the time. That’s basically all I hear. The most common criticism I get is that I’m being manipulated and you shouldn’t use children in political ways, because that is abuse, and I can’t think for myself and so on. And I think that is so annoying! I’m also allowed to have a say – why shouldn’t I be able to form my own opinion and try to change people’s minds? But I’m sure you hear that a lot, too; that you’re too young and too inexperienced. When I see all the hate you receive for that, I honestly can’t believe how you manage to stay so strong."
"Many people, especially in the US, see countries like Sweden or Norway or Finland as role models – we have such a clean energy sector, and so on. That may be true, but we are not role models. Sweden is one of the top 10 countries in the world when it comes to the highest ecological footprints, according to the WWF – if you count the consumer index, then we are among the worst per capita. In Sweden, the most common argument that we shouldn’t act is that we are such a small country with only 10 million inhabitants – we should focus more on helping other countries. That is so incredibly frustrating, because why should we argue about who or what needs to change first? Why not take the leading role?"
"Avoiding climate breakdown will require cathedral thinking. We must lay the foundation while we may not know exactly how to build the ceiling."
"You lied to us. You gave us false hope. You told us that the future was something to look forward to. And the saddest thing is that most children are not even aware of the fate that awaits us. We will not understand it until it’s too late. And yet we are the lucky ones. Those who will be affected the hardest are already suffering the consequences. But their voices are not heard."
"You don’t listen to the science because you are only interested in solutions that will enable you to carry on like before. Like now. And those answers don’t exist any more. Because you did not act in time."
"For way too long, the politicians and the people in power have gotten away with not doing anything to fight the climate crisis, but we will make sure that they will not get away with it any longer. We are striking because we have done our homework and they have not."
"I often talk to people who say, ‘No, we have to be hopeful and to inspire each other, and we can’t tell [people] too many negative things’ . . . But, no — we have to tell it like it is. Because if there are no positive things to tell, then what should we do, should we spread false hope? We can’t do that, we have to tell the truth."
"This target is not sufficient to protect the future for children growing up today. If the EU is to make its fair contribution to stay within the carbon budget for the 2C limit then it needs a minimum of 80 percent reduction by 2030, and that includes aviation and shipping... There is simply not enough time to wait for us to grow up and become the ones in charge."
"Unite behind the science, that is our demand. (Thunberg told a plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)."
"We need to focus every inch of our being on climate change, because if we fail to do so than all our achievements and progress have been for nothing and all that will remain of our political leaders’ legacy will be the greatest failure of human history. And they will be remembered as the greatest villains of all time, because they have chosen not to listen and not to act."
"We have been told that the EU intends to improve its emission reduction targets. In the new target, the EU is proposing to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 45 percent below 1990’s level by 2030. Some people say that is good or that is ambitious. But this new target is still not enough to keep global warming below 1.5 °C. This target is not sufficient to protect the future for children growing up today. If the EU is to make its fair contribution to staying within the carbon budget for the 2 °C limit, then it means a minimum of 80 percent reduction by 2030 and that includes aviation and shipping. So it is around twice as ambitious as the current proposal."
"Our house is on fire. I am here to say, our house is on fire. [...] Adults keep saying: “We owe it to the young people to give them hope.” But I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is."
"Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we all have created. But that is just another convenient lie. Because if everyone is guilty then no one is to blame. And someone is to blame. Some people – some companies and some decision-makers in particular – have known exactly what priceless values they are sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money."
"I think it is insane that people are gathered here to talk about the climate and they arrive here in private jets."
"There are no emergency meetings, no headlines, no breaking news. No one is acting as if we were in a crisis. Even most climate scientists or green politicians keep on flying around the world, eating meat and dairy. … Today we use 100 million barrels of oil every single day. There are no politics to change that. There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground. So we can't save the world by playing by the rules. Because the rules have to be changed. Everything needs to change. And it has to start today."
"You only talk about moving forward with the same bad ideas that got us into this mess. Even when the only sensible thing to do is pull the emergency brake. You are not mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden you leave to your children."
"We are about to sacrifice our civilization for the opportunity of a very small number of people to continue to make enormous amounts of money. [...] But it is the sufferings of the many which pay for the luxuries of the few. [...] You say that you love your children above everything else. And yet you are stealing their future."
"We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. [...] And if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system itself?"
"We have not come here to beg world leaders to care. You have ignored us in the past and you will ignore us again. You've run out of excuses and we're running out of time. We've come here to let you know that change is coming, whether you like it or not. The real power belongs to the people."
"For 25 years, countless of people have stood in front of the United Nations Climate Change conference asking our nations’ leaders to stop the emissions. But clearly this has not worked, since the emissions just continue to rise. So I will not ask them anything. Instead, I will ask the people around the world to realize that our political leaders have failed us, because we are facing an existential threat and there is no time to continue down this road of madness."
"[...] why should I be studying for a future that soon will be no more, when no one is doing anything whatsoever to save that future? And what is the point of learning facts within the school system when the most important facts given by the finest science of that same school system clearly means nothing to our politicians and our society?"
"Today we use 100 million barrels of oil every day. [...] There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground. So we can't save the world by playing by the rules. Because the rules have to be changed. Everything needs to change. And it has to start today."
"We need to change the whole capitalist system"
"a new generation of climate activists are emerging all across the globe. The Youth Strike for Climate, also known as Fridays for Future, began in 2018 after Swedish youth activist Greta Thunberg staged a protest in front of the Swedish parliament holding a sign that read "Skolstrejk för klimatet" (School Strike for Climate). Her actions, along with those of several other brave students, resulted in an international movement of students of various ages that demonstrated and walked out of Friday classes to demand climate action, a transition to renewable energy, and a commitment to stopping the climate crisis. By 2019, over one million demonstrators, primarily students, across 150 countries had participated in the protests."
"Climate activist Greta Thunberg has joked that she is adopting a "net-zero" approach to cursing, an apparent response to criticism of her use of strong language at a demonstration earlier this week... On Monday, Thunberg joined other "Fridays for Future" activists at a demonstration at Festival Park in Glasgow, near the UN climate summit, where she once again mocked politicians for their inaction on climate. She said the politicians and delegates gathered at the COP talks were "pretending to take our future seriously." Over the weekend, the environmental campaigner received a rock star welcome when she was mobbed by supporters at Glasgow's Central Station... After traveling north from London by train, Thunberg appeared to be in good spirits, giving photographers a thumbs-up as she made her way through the station upon arrival, surrounded by police and fellow climate activists."
"Climate change activist Greta Thunberg implored President Biden to get serious about tackling environmental issues facing the world and suggested the new administration has not done enough in the arena during his first two months in office."
"I heard this young girl from Sweden. I really felt: Oh, there is real hope from our younger generation who really thinking this environment and these things... Our generation has created problem of climate change. When I heard Greta speaking on issue climate change I felt there was hope from younger generation. I really admire her. It was really encouraging that a younger member of human community was showing courage to fight for environment. We should let the younger generation help resolve the problem of climate change."
"Greta Thunberg says she has stopped buying new clothes but does not sit in judgment on others whose lifestyle choices are less environmentally friendly than her own, in an interview to mark her 18th birthday... Asked what she thought of celebrities who talk about the climate emergency while flying around the world, the teenager declined to criticise them, although warned that others might. “I don’t care,” she told the Sunday Times magazine. “I’m not telling anyone else what to do, but there is a risk when you are vocal about these things and don’t practise as you preach, then you will become criticised for that and what you are saying won’t be taken seriously.” Avoiding long flights is one of the most effective ways individuals can reduce their carbon emissions but the biggest impact is from not having children, according to studies. Nevertheless Thunberg was not about to tell people not to procreate. “I don’t think it’s selfish to have children,” she said. “It is not the people who are the problem, it is our behaviour.” While her lifestyle is far removed from that of most western teenagers, Thunberg says she does not feel she is missing out. On clothes, she said: “The worst-case scenario I guess I’ll buy second-hand, but I don’t need new clothes. I know people who have clothes, so I would ask them if I could borrow them or if they have something they don’t need any more. I don’t need to fly to Thailand to be happy. I don’t need to buy clothes I don’t need, so I don’t see it as a sacrifice.”"
"The world is speeding in the wrong direction in tackling the climate emergency, Greta Thunberg has said, before a UN event at which national leaders have been asked to increase their pledges for emissions cuts. Thunberg, whose solo school strike in 2018 has snowballed into a global youth movement, said there was a state of complete denial when it came to the immediate action needed, with leaders giving only distant promises and empty words."
"Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg said Wednesday the foundation set up in her name would donate 150,000 euros ($175,000) to charities working to support "people on the frontlines of the climate crisis in Africa." The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the solar power-focused NGO Solar Sister, as well as advocacy group Oil Change International, would each receive 50,000 euros ($59,000) for their efforts in Africa... In August, the 17-year-old... returned to school after taking a year off to campaign to curb climate change."
"Greta Thunberg and a group of other children have pushed forward their legal complaint at the UN against countries they accuse of endangering children’s wellbeing through the climate crisis, despite attempts to have it thrown out. The 16 children, including the Swedish environmental activist, lodged a legal case with the UN committee on the rights of the child against Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Turkey last September. They alleged that the countries – which are legally obliged to protect children under the UN convention on the rights of the child – breached those obligations by failing to protect them from the “direct, imminent and foreseeable risk to their health and wellbeing” posed by the climate crisis."
"Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist, is partnering with UNICEF on a campaign to help children around the world who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The campaign aims to stop the consequences of the pandemic, by protecting children from food shortages, strained healthcare systems, violence and lost education, according to the statement from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The campaign will also provide items like soap, masks, gloves, hygiene kits, protective equipment to medical centers in need. Thunberg donated $100,000 to UNICEF to start the campaign along with Human Act, a Danish NGO, that is matching her donation."
"I find a scrum of reporters interviewing a child in a purple puffer jacket, pink mittens, and a homemade-looking knit hat. It takes me a minute to realize that it’s Greta. She is 17, but could pass for 12. I can’t quite square the fiery speaker with the micro teen in front of me... Of course, this is emphatically wrong. Greta Thunberg has Asperger’s, which, she says, gives her pinpoint focus on climate minutiae while parrying and discarding even the smallest attempt at flattery. We stand near the Swedish Parliament house, where less than two years ago Thunberg started her Skolstrejk för klimatet, School Strike for Climate. Back then, it was just Greta, a sign, and a lunch of bean pasta in a reusable glass jar. Then it was two people, and then a dozen, and then an international movement. I mention the bravery of her speeches, but she waves me away. She wants to talk about the loss of will among the olds."
"Thunberg stated that, at the current rate, we have eight years to change everything. Thunberg’s face was controlled fury. This was the persona: an adolescent iron-willed truth teller. The Davos one-percenters clapped and rattled their Rolexes. It has become a disconcerting pattern for Thunberg appearances that would be repeated at the European Commission: Greta tells the adults they are fools and their plans are lame and shortsighted. They still give her a standing ovation. A few minutes later, she was gone and the audience dispersed into a fleet of black BMWs and Mercedes, belching diesel into the Alpine sky."
"“The phrase ‘A little child shall lead them’ has come to mind more than once,” Al Gore tells me in Davos, before sharing his favorite Greta moment. It was at the U.N. summit last fall. “She said to the assembled world leaders, ‘You say you understand the science, but I don’t believe you. Because if you did and then you continue to act as you do, that would mean you’re evil. And I don’t believe that.’” Gore shook his head in wonderment. “Wow.” He then gives a history lesson: “There have been other times in human history when the moment a morally-based social movement reached the tipping point was the moment when the younger generation made it their own. Here we are.”"
"Greta’s rise was the activist version of a perfect storm. Her ascension from bullied Swedish student to global climate icon has been driven by both a loss and a regaining of hope. It is not a coincidence that her ascent happened immediately in the aftermath of the election of Trump. It’s impossible to see a Greta-like phenomena emerging during the Obama-driven run up to the Paris climate talks, when it actually looked like nations of the world were getting their shit together to deal with global warming."
"On 20 August 2018, the first day of the school year, 15-year-old autistic school student Greta Thunberg began a solo school strike demanding government action on climate change. Instead of going to class, she printed leaflets declaring "We kids most often don’t do what you tell us to do. We do as you do. And since you grown-ups don’t give a shit about my future, I won’t either. My name is Greta and I’m in ninth grade. And I refuse school for the climate until the Swedish general election." Then she headed to the Swedish parliament building where she protested alone. Within a couple of days a handful of people began to join her, and she gave numerous interviews to journalists, making headlines around the world. Within a few months, hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren in hundreds of towns and cities around the world organised their own walkouts. While Thunberg as inspired many young people, some commentators have pointed out that she received much more favourable media coverage than Indigenous youth who have been using direct action and fighting police to protect biodiversity and fight climate change for years in places like Standing Rock in the United States."
"Her image has been celebrated in murals and Halloween costumes, and her name has been attached to everything from bike shares to beetles. Margaret Atwood compared her to Joan of Arc. After noticing a hundredfold increase in its usage, lexicographers at Collins Dictionary named Thunberg’s pioneering idea, climate strike, the word of the year."
"So many people have made death threats against her family that she is now often protected by police when she travels. But for the most part, she sees the global backlash as evidence that the climate strikers have hit a nerve. “I think that it’s a good sign actually,” she says. “Because that shows we are actually making a difference and they see us as a threat.”"
"The politics of climate action are as entrenched and complex as the phenomenon itself, and Thunberg has no magic solution. But she has succeeded in creating a global attitudinal shift, transforming millions of vague, middle-of-the-night anxieties into a worldwide movement calling for urgent change. She has offered a moral clarion call to those who are willing to act, and hurled shame on those who are not. She has persuaded leaders, from mayors to Presidents, to make commitments where they had previously fumbled: after she spoke to Parliament and demonstrated with the British environmental group Extinction Rebellion, the U.K. passed a law requiring that the country eliminate its carbon footprint. She has focused the world’s attention on environmental injustices that young indigenous activists have been protesting for years. Because of her, hundreds of thousands of teenage “Gretas,” from Lebanon to Liberia, have skipped school to lead their peers in climate strikes around the world."
"Tokata Iron Eyes, an environmental activist, invited Thunberg, a fellow 16-year-old, to her homelands on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, after befriending her... the duo spoke at the Standing Rock high school about the burgeoning youth-led climate movement that has seen millions of people strike from school and protest against fossil-fuel projects around the world. “This is a global fight; this is not just in my home country in Sweden,” Thunberg said. “We as teenagers shouldn’t be the ones taking responsibility. It should be the ones in power.” Iron Eyes said... “No 16-year-old should have to travel the world in the first place sharing a message about having something as simple as clean water and fresh air to breathe,”... In a closing ceremony, Thunberg was gifted with a Lakota Native American name, Maphiyata echiyatan hin win, which translates as “woman who came from the heavens”."
"Thunberg's blithe disregard for the benefits of economic growth is not uncommon for people from wealthy countries who are already living in an industrialized world built by the fossil fuels of yesteryear. For them, they associate additional economic growth with access to high fashion and luxury cars. But for the billions of human beings living outside these places, fossil-fuel-driven industrialization can be the difference between life and death."
"Greta has the sense of moral clarity and laser focus that is one of the things I love and value about myself and other autistic people. We’re different — I’m brown, she’s white, and I feel more political commonality with Black and Brown young climate activists like Isra Hirsi and Autumn Peltier who are making connections between colonialism, racism and climate justice. But when I look at Greta’s unsmiling, outraged face, I feel a sense of autistic intimacy. But women are supposed to smile and be polite, don’t you know? Women and non-cis guys are supposed to be gracious and gentle and apologize and make eye contact. Autistic women and non-cis guys are often under even more pressure to keep up with traditional, neurotypical gender standards. We are not supposed to just say what the fuck we believe, call people out, and not smile doing it. We are not supposed to be autistic in public, without apology, let alone have any kind of radical politics. But Greta is."
"Greta Thunberg is one of the great truth-tellers of this or any time. Let me refresh your memories about some of her most iconic lines. To the U.N. climate negotiators in Poland last December, she said: “You are not mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden you leave to us children.”"
"To the British MPs who asked her to speak, she asked, “Is my English OK? Is the microphone on? Because I’m beginning to wonder.”"
"To the rich and mighty at Davos who praised her for giving them hope, she replied, “I don’t want your hope. … I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is.”"
"She also told them that not everyone is to blame for the climate crisis. No, she looked them in the eye and said that they were to blame. And we will always love her for that."
"People can sneer all they want at Ms. Thunberg, just as their predecessors sneered at earlier protest movements and called them a waste of time. But many of those campaigns did have an effect. Some stopped wars. Some brought about laws that outlawed racist policies. Some stopped whales from being butchered indiscriminately. No, Greta Thunberg is not going to save the planet on her own. But at least she is holding those in a position to do something about climate change to account, speaking hard truths many others are afraid to. She is not an attention seeker. She is a young person frightened to death about the state of the world she is inheriting. Sure, mumble that she is a disillusioned naif if you wish. I prefer to think of Ms. Thunberg as something else: a powerful and vital new voice in the climate debate. And someone who deserves support, encouragement and thanks from her fellow global citizens."
"Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist who started the Friday school strikes, has graduated from secondary education with 14 As and three Bs. She got these excellent grades despite being absent from class far more than most of her followers: As the leader of a movement, an international celebrity, and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, she traveled extensively during her last school year."
"The contrast between Thunberg’s academic achievement and her attendance record raises important questions. What kind of example does she set for the millions of kids who skipped school to participate in the climate protests? Should attendance be compulsory and, if so, why should it be required for someone like Thunberg? In Sweden, nine years of full-time education are mandatory and home-schooling is practically illegal..."
"What if Thunberg is offering policy makers two messages for the price of one? The first is, of course, about climate. But the second is that the world wouldn’t come to an end if the school week were shortened by a day. Going to a rally and reading up about the issues involved might do more good than polishing a chair in class... Homeschooling isn’t the answer... For her part, Thunberg is done wasting her time, at least for now. She is taking the next school year off to continue her climate change campaign. Whatever school she ends up in next is unlikely to make stringent attendance demands on a potential Nobel Peace Prize winner."
"Greta is built in a laboratory! She has the proper face, the proper pigtails, the proper illness, she is properly little... She and all her family settled down forever, but it is evident that they are used. After two days she shook hands with miss Christine Lagarde, who leads the IMF. She is pure laboratory creation."
"In recent days, she has sharply rejected criticism of the strikes from educational authorities, telling the Hong Kong Education Bureau: “We fight for our future. It doesn’t help if we have to fight the adults too.” She also told a critical Australian state education minister his words “belong in a museum”."
"The students striking from schools around the world to demand action on climate change have issued an uncompromising open letter stating: “We are going to change the fate of humanity, whether you like it or not.” The letter, published by the Guardian, says: “United we will rise on 15 March and many times after until we see climate justice... Thunberg, now 16 years old and who began the strikes with a solo protest beginning last August... was one of about 3,000 student demonstrators in Antwerp, Belgium on Thursday, and joined protesters in Hamburg on Friday morning..."
"Keeping track of the fast growing number of strikes is difficult, but many are registering on FridaysForFuture.org. So far, there are almost 500 events listed to take place on 15 March across 51 countries, making it the biggest strike day so far. Students plan to skip school across Western Europe, from the US to Brazil and Chile, and from Australia to Iran, India and Japan."
"Over the past six months, she has become a superstar of the climate change movement. Her school strike, which started out with her sitting alone on a camping mat next to parliament, was swiftly highlighted by the media...She speaks softly, often simply nodding when addressed... she only speaks when necessary."
"She says her dad often asks her to tone down her speeches, which she writes herself. “He becomes scared when he reads it, he is like, you shouldn’t say this, it is too provocative,” she says..."
"Sixteen-year-old climate action leader Greta Thunberg stood alongside European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker Thursday in Brussels as he indicated—after weeks of climate strikes around the world inspired by the Swedish teenager—that the European Union has heard the demands of young people and pledged more than $1 trillion over the next seven years to address the crisis of a rapidly heating planet."
"In 1429 Joan of Arc (17) led French troops to victory over English forces at the Siege of Orleans after she had a vision. Today, eco warrior Greta Thunberg (15) is leading the battle against the ravages of climate change. Greta has vision. She’s taken the leadership mantle from Joan of Arc whether she knows it or not. Some things in life just happen! For nearly three decades, the global movement to fix climate change has been stuck in low or no-gear ever since the nations of the world agreed to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 1992 at the Kyoto Protocol. It’s been a dry run ever since, nothing of consequence happens. Fortunately, Joan of Arc’s contemporary counterpart Greta Thunberg has swept onto the scene from Sweden.... Greta is equally committed to justice as Joan of Arc, but it is climate justice rather than recapturing sovereign territory. Several weeks ago Greta went on strike from school to protest, sitting on cobblestones outside parliament in central Stockholm, handing out leaflets to adults, informing them of their failure to fight the climate crisis."
"As government ministers from around the globe gather in Katowice, Poland, for the final days of the 24th U.N. climate summit, we speak with 15-year-old activist Greta Thunberg, who denounced politicians here last week for their inaction on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. She has garnered global attention for carrying out a weekly school strike against climate change in her home country of Sweden."
"Thurnberg has an uncanny ability to concentrate... “I can do the same thing for hours,” she said....She began researching climate change and has stayed on the topic for six years. She has stopped eating meat and buying anything that is not absolutely necessary. In 2015, she stopped flying on airplanes, and a year later, her mother followed suit, giving up an international performing career. The family has installed solar batteries and has started growing their own vegetables on an allotment outside the city. To meet me in central Stockholm, Thunberg and her father rode their bikes for about half an hour; the family has an electric car that they use only when necessary."
"We, or the Swedish government, decided early, in January, that the measures we should take against the pandemic should be evidence-based. And when you start looking around at the measures being taken now by different countries, you'll find that very few of them have a shred of 'evidence-based'. But we know of one that has been known for 150 years or more, that washing your hands is good for you and good for others when you're in an epidemic. But the rest, border closures, school closings, social distancing... there's almost no science behind most of this."
"I think it's not very good. And the thing that they miss a little is... Models for infectious diseases are popular, many people do them, they're good for teaching, but they seldom tell you the truth because... I'll make an exemple: Which model could have assumed that the outbreak would start in northern Italy in Europe? Difficult to model that one. And any such model, it looks complicated, there are strange mathematical formulas, and integral science and stuff, but it rests on the assumptions, and the assumptions in that article have been very criticized... I won't go through that, it would take the rest of your day to go through it all. The paper was never published scientifically, it's not peer-reviewed, which a scientific paper should be, it's just an internal departmental report from Imperial. And it's fascinating, I don't think any other scientific endeavour has made such an impression on the world as that rather... debatable paper."
"When I first heard, which is now six weeks ago, about different draconian measures that were taken, I asked myself "How are they gonna climb down from that one? When will they open the schools again? What should the criterion be to open the schools?". Did any of the strong and very decisive politicians even think about how to get out of this when they introduced it?"
"I think I’ve kind of carved out a sweet spot for myself by combining science and comedy. To me, it’s like putting syrup in your medicine. Everything just goes down easier if you add humor to it, and you can reach a lot more people if you manage to do it in an entertaining way."
"I’ve shied away from the ‘women in tech’ question because it’s always what people ask about. I think as soon as you’re a woman, or any minority doing something, you automatically become a representative for it, and I think a lot of brilliant women’s interviews are being wasted on talking about what it’s like being a woman."
"It’s the passion that keeps me in this industry, no amount of money could make me do what I do if I didn’t have passion."
"Many of the big NATO countries are also interested in Sweden and Finland joining, because it's not only about our security, it's also about NATO security."
"[On what she thinks is most special and unique about Eurovision]: Well, it's because we don't have that many communities where everybody is accepted, regardless of your sexuality, religious background, or color. As long as you come in with love and respect for one another, you're welcome."