Marjory Stoneman Douglas Quotes

“You have to stand up for some things in this world.”
― Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River

“I've never been lonely, just alone. I think people who can't stand being alone are silly. How do they know who they are or what they're like if they're never alone?”
― Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River

“... I don't think we have souls. I think death is the end. A lot of people can't bear that idea, but I find it a little restful, really. I'm happy not to feel I'm going on. I don't really want to. I think this life has been plenty. It's just about all anybody could take, really. I'm cheerful about the feeling the end will come -- let it come.”
― Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River

“We make such a fetish of the family. I think we've created a tremendous mythology about it. We believe the family must be maintained, it's the basis of society, etc. Yet for a great many of us, the family has been difficult. Many of the troubles of mankind are family troubles, more devastating and more lasting than other kinds of troubles. Almost any well-run orphanage would be better than some families I've known. There are countless unjust and narrow-minded families, and parents who bring up children in hatred for reasons that are invalid.
Just being a family is not enough. There has to be agreement: not a narrowing but a widening, not bitterness and misunderstanding but sensibility and justice.”
― Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River

“Some people don't realize there are inevitable wars that just have to be fought. Pacifism isn't always noble, and it isn't always intelligent. You have to stand up for some things in this world.”
― Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River

“The little house in Riverside... didn't really matter. I saw at once that houses in general didn't really matter. You didn't live in the house, you lived on the porch, you lived in the outdoors with the lovely air blowing in all the windows. The houses were not impressive and the town was not impressive, but the people were impressive.”
― Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River