Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.
Context
This line is spoken by the Once-ler in the book The Lorax, written by Dr. Seuss (1971).
The Lorax is the book that anti-environmentalists don't want you to know about. An industrialist called the Once-ler has basically destroyed the environment and run off a rare creature, the Lorax, who left behind only a stone that says "UNLESS" on it in really big letters.
So what does that mean?
Well, at the end of the book, The Once-ler gives us his interpretation: "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
In other words, the Once-ler screwed up. Big time. And it's up to us to fix things. An industrialist who regrets his actions and actually thinks about correcting the damage he's done? Yep, this is fiction.
Where you've heard it
You've heard this at a rally for the environment. Or when you daydream about going back to preschool…the simpler days.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
You have to be the change you want to see, and this quote does that by not being very pretentious.
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