QuotationFilter: love unlike taxes and either like sustainability?

April 15, 2013 11:02 AM

I'm searching for a quotation that was paraphrased to me as

Talking about sustainability should not be like doing taxes, it must be like writing a love letter.

The person (architect, with interest in sustainable design) who paraphrased this to me is certain this is not the actual quotation and citation, and believes it came to her attention within the past seven years.
posted by Prince_of_Cups to Writing & Language (2 answers total)

It sounds William McDonough-ish, but I can't confirm. I found these things that are somewhat close:

Waste is a tax on the whole people. - Albert W. Atwood

I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. - Mother Teresa
posted by LionIndex at 7:35 PM on April 15, 2013

McDonough was also my first thought, but his comment was the opposite. Paraphrasing, "Sustainability is not that interesting. I mean, if I ask you how's your marriage, and you say 'sustainable', well, that's pretty sad."
posted by at at 3:52 PM on May 5, 2013