The Connection between Earth and Humans

In today’s worldwide economy, sustainability has become a significant part of life, which had begun many years ago in past civilizations and has gradually improved and developed in today’s society. After the destruction brought about during the Holocaust, “How could anyone pretend that the human race was governed by reason, that advances in technology and science were for the greater good, when human beings were not only capable of genocide, but also possessed the ability to annihilate themselves” (Sayre 1467). Sustainability has empowered individuals to understand their potential to support and improve their quality of life, as a result protecting and enhancing the atmosphere for present and future generations. In order for individuals to continue to appreciate their quality of life, they must balance their own needs with those of others and take care of their environment. Additionally, it is about living one’s values and demonstrating them with honesty, responsibility, and generosity, because in the end everything is interconnected.

Henry David Thoreau is one of the most well-known American writers who wrote, Life without Principle, which illustrates the belief that people of integrity have their own freedom that allows them to follow their personal opinions. This can be represented in an excerpt taken from Life without Principle.

“The aim of the laborer should be, not to get his living, to get "a good job," but to perform well a certain work; and, even in a pecuniary sense, it would be economy for a town to pay its laborers so well that they would not feel that they were working for low ends, as for a livelihood merely, but for scientific, or even moral ends. Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does ...

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...ey, whether they enjoy doing their job or not. It is a shame to be throwing away your life by working primarily for some sort of income and not appreciating what the world has to offer. People need to take a second to evaluate their way of life. They need to set their life around themselves, not the other way around where they are living off the money they make. In the end, these writers and artists both demonstrate how mankind should think before they act and not let distractions keep them away from enjoying life.

Works Cited

Durand, Asher B. Kindred Spirits. 15 March 2007. Web. 25 May 2011.

Sayre, Henry M. The Humanities: Culture, Continuity and Change. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. 2008

Thoreau, Henry David. Life without Principle. 9 Aug 2009. Web. 25 May 2011. .