It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside. – Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy-Tacy and Tib, 1941
If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos. – Edward O. Wilson