"Living wild species are like a library of books still unread. Our heedless destruction of them is akin to burning the library without ever having read its books"

John Dingell's quote is an effective metaphor for the damage of wildlife. He is comparing the destruction of living wild species to burning a library without ever having actually read its books. He is stressing the significance of preserving wildlife, as they are a valuable source of knowledge and understanding that we have yet to find. He is recommending that if we continue to recklessly destroy wildlife, we are basically damaging a library of understanding that might have been used to benefit mankind. He is cautioning us that if we do not do something about it to secure wildlife, we will be denying ourselves of the opportunity to gain from them. His quote is a tip that we must take action to protect wildlife and their environments, or else we will be ruining a valuable source of knowledge and understanding.