…we are all born from the same celestial seed;
all of us have the same father,
from which the earth, the mother who feeds us,
receives clear drops of rain,
producing from them bright wheat
and lush trees,
and the human race,
and the species of beasts,
offering up the foods with which all bodies
are nourished,
to lead a sweet life
and generate offspring…
(de rerum natura, bk.II, lines 991- 97)
and he might have added:
There is only one Earth
That nurtures us and is bountiful.
To foul the seas, pollute the air,
Then to deny all responsibility;
To spread soullessness about;
To concrete the land for short-term gain;
To tolerate starvation amid plenty;
To allow the callous purchase of
The political process;
To preside over mass extinctions
Of fellow creatures, innocent of blame;
To disrupt public lives for private gain –
All this is foolishness ………….
Or maybe mass suicide.
Rich, short-sighted sirs, we have your names;
They will be carved in halls of infamy.
(Lucretius was the Roman poet of the Greek philosopher, Epicurus)