40 Greta Thunberg Quotes to Inspire You to Make a Change

1. "We are living in the beginning of a mass extinction and our climate is breaking down."

2. "The climate crisis is both the easiest and the hardest issue we have ever faced. The easiest because we know what we must do. We must stop the emissions of greenhouse gases. The hardest because our current economics are still totally dependent on burning fossil fuels, and thereby destroying ecosystems in order to create everlasting economic growth."

3. “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. 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 fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”

4. “Our house is on fire. I am here to say, our house is on fire.”

5. "Some people say that I should study to become a climate scientist so that I can 'solve the climate crisis.' But the climate crisis has already been solved. We already have all the facts and solutions. All we have to do is to wake up and change."

6. "Solving the climate crisis is the greatest and most complex challenge that homo sapiens have ever faced. The main solution, however, is so simple that even a small child can understand it. We have to stop our emissions of greenhouse gases."

7. "We should no longer measure our wealth and success in the graph that shows economic growth, but in the curve that shows the emissions of greenhouse gases."

8. "There are thousands of ways to take action. For example, plant trees, pick up litter, join an organisation or movement that makes a difference and especially try to influence adults and put pressure on people in power."

9. "When I was 11 I became very depressed. It had a lot to do with the climate and ecological crisis. I thought everything was just so wrong and nothing was happening and there's no point in anything."

10. "Nothing is being done to stop the climate and ecological emergency from happening and to secure the future wellbeing for future generations."

11. "At first when I heard about climate change, I was a climate denier. I didn't think it was happening. Because if there really was an existential crisis like that, that would threaten our civilisation, we wouldn't be focusing on anything else. That would be our first priority. So I didn't understand how that added up."

12. "Learning about climate change triggered my depression in the first place. But it was also what got me out of my depression, because there were things I could do to improve the situation. I don't have time to be depressed anymore."

13. "I mean, people aren't continuing like this and not doing anything because they are evil, or because they don't want to. We aren't destroying the biosphere because we are selfish. We are doing it simply because we are unaware."

14. "If burning fossil fuels was so bad that it threatened our very existence, how could we just continue like before? Why were there no restrictions? Why wasn't it made illegal? To me, that did not add up."

15. "Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we will have created, but that is not true, because if everyone is guilty then no one is to blame. And someone is to blame."

16. "If there really was a crisis, and if this crisis was caused by our emissions, you would at least see some signs. Not just flooded cities, tens of thousands of dead people, and whole nations leveled to piles of torn down buildings. You would see some restrictions. But no. And no one talks about it."

17. "The symbolism of the climate strike is that if you adults don't give a damn about my future, I won't either."

18. "Many people seem to have this double moral. They say one thing and then do another thing. They say that the climate crisis is very important and yet they do nothing about it."

1. “My message is that we’ll be watching you. This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!”

2. "I see the world in black and white, and I don't like compromising."

3. "I'm telling you there is hope. I have seen it, but it does not come from the governments or corporations. It comes from the people."

4. "I believe that one person can make a difference."

5. "Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope, look for action. Then, and only then, hope will come."

6. "Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope, look for action. Then, and only then, hope will come."

7. "Giving up cannot be an option."

8. "Being young is a great advantage, since we see the world from a new perspective and we are not afraid to make radical changes."

9. "Why should I be studying for a future that soon may not exist?"

10. "I just know what is right and I want to do what is right."

11. "We should not underestimate ourselves, because if lots of individuals go together then we can accomplish almost anything."

12. "It is our future on the line, and we must at least have a say in it."

13. "People are underestimating the force of angry kids."

14. "I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act."

15. "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."

16. "We can no longer save the world by playing by the rules."

17. "My message to all the activists is to just keep going, and I know it really may seem impossible and hopeless sometimes - it always does - so you just have to keep going because if you try hard enough and long enough you will make a difference."

18. "Not having hope is not an excuse for not doing something."

19. "I have promised myself that I'm going to do everything I can for as long as I can."

20. "Some people can just let things go, but I can't, especially if there's something that worries me or makes me sad."

21. "To do your best is no longer good enough. We now have to do the seemingly impossible."

22. "Of course, individual change doesn't make much difference in a holistic picture... but we need both systemic change and individual change."