Nature's Last Dance Quotes

“Humanity is the only species that actively debates whether or not it should maintain the environmental conditions necessary for its own continued existence. Other species do not struggle with this sort of thing.”
― Natalie Kyriacou, Nature's Last Dance: Tales of Wonder in an Age of Extinction

“An army never expects to lose a war to a flightless bird – or any bird, really.”
― Natalie Kyriacou, Nature's Last Dance: Tales of Wonder in an Age of Extinction

“Birdwatching, at first glance, seems like a pursuit designed specifically for people who find stamp collecting too stimulating. But oh, how wrong they would be. Behind the courteous nods, the gentle lift of binoculars and the soft pitter-patter of birder footsteps on dew-dappled gum leaves lies a world of unexpected drama – a scandalous underbelly of rivalry, controversy and intrigue. Indeed, what appears to be a peaceful communion with nature masks a tempest of Shakespearean passion.”
― Natalie Kyriacou, Nature's Last Dance: Tales of Wonder in an Age of Extinction

“Thus far, environmental policy worldwide is undertaken much like a school group project which tends to involve grand objectives, paired with an unspoken understanding that no one’s really going to follow through. Across the world, the journey to protect the environment has been long, slow and annoying.”
― Natalie Kyriacou, Nature's Last Dance: Tales of Wonder in an Age of Extinction

“They paint the world with their rage and their fury and their hope and their passion. The air swells with their shouts, with their laughter, with their joy and with their anger. It is the only thing you can’t steal from them, that fire they wield.”
― Natalie Kyriacou, Nature's Last Dance: Tales of Wonder in an Age of Extinction

“We have built cities that scrape the sky, machines that think and a global network that allows people to yell at each other at any time of the day, from any part of the world. But when it comes to the question of whether we should keep our own planet habitable, humans remain curiously undecided”
― Natalie Kyriacou, Nature's Last Dance: Tales of Wonder in an Age of Extinction

“They march in the streets and the classrooms and the courtrooms and the parliaments and the boardrooms, and we thought they would stop, but they didn’t. We thought they would grow tired, but still they didn’t. They grew louder and louder until every corner of the world heard their demand: a planet they can live on. That’s what they want, and they keep saying it, and they won’t stop saying it.”
― Natalie Kyriacou, Nature's Last Dance: Tales of Wonder in an Age of Extinction

“Caligula was a pervert and a tyrant. If the Roman emperor had any redeeming qualities, they weren’t immediately obvious. Unencumbered by things like morality and ethics, his charm lay largely in his fondness for excess, incest and violence.”
― Natalie Kyriacou, Nature's Last Dance: Tales of Wonder in an Age of Extinction

“Much like the kākāpō who waddles up a hill, digs a hole and bellows into it to attract a mate, billionaires may be engaging in their own form of bellowing and feather-waving with admirable enthusiasm: They are hoping that somewhere, someone is appreciating just how terribly desirable they are.”
― Natalie Kyriacou, Nature's Last Dance: Tales of Wonder in an Age of Extinction