--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Who would have predicted a century ago…" description: "\"Who would have predicted a century ago that the richest civilizations in history would be made up of polluted tracts of suburban development dominated ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/alan-thein-durning-53455_automobile_who-would-have-predicted-a-century-ago-t_844061.jpg" --- # Who would have predicted a century ago that the richest… ![“Who would have predicted a century ago that the richest civilizations in history would be made up of polluted tracts of suburban development dominated by the private automobile, shopping malls, and a throwaway economy? Surely, this is not the ultimate fulfillment of our destiny.” quote by Alan Thein Durning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/alan-thein-durning-53455_automobile_who-would-have-predicted-a-century-ago-t_844061.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/alan-thein-durning-53455_automobile_who-would-have-predicted-a-century-ago-t_844061.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/alan-thein-durning-53455_automobile_who-would-have-predicted-a-century-ago-t_844061.jpg) > “Who would have predicted a century ago that the richest civilizations in history would be made up of polluted tracts of suburban development dominated by the private automobile, shopping malls, and a throwaway economy? Surely, this is not the ultimate fulfillment of our destiny.” [Alan Thein Durning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-thein-durning/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote warns that modern prosperity built on cars, malls, and disposable culture is unsustainable and unfulfilling. **In simple terms:** Modern wealth built on wasteful consumption is hollow. Key Takeaway Rethink growth beyond materialism. Themes environment consumerism urban planning philosophy economics Mood concerned critical reflective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - city planning - policy making - personal lifestyle choices Key Concepts sustainability externalities cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - What values should guide future civilization? - How can we balance convenience with ecological health? A Different Perspective Progress can be measured only by quality of life, not material accumulation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Automobile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/automobile/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Civilizations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilizations/) [Civilizations History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilizations-history-674873/) [Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny/) [Development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/development/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Environmental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental/) [Fulfillment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fulfillment/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Polluted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-polluted-674874/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Malls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malls/) [Our destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-destiny/) [Pollution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pollution/) [Predicted Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/predicted-century-674875/) [Richest Civilizations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/richest-civilizations-674872/) [Shopping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shopping/) [Ultimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ultimate/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [We used to build civilizations. Now we build shopping malls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/we-used-to-build-civilizations-now-we-build-shopping-malls/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“Their history wasn’t so far off the mean track, they were going through what a thousand other civilizations had gone through, and no doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/their-history-wasn-t-so-far-off-the-mean-track-they-were-going/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [I am the son of two civilizations that at a certain age in history have formed a happy marriage. The first of these, seven…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naguib-mahfouz/i-am-the-son-of-two-civilizations-that-at-a-certain-age-in-history/) [Naguib Mahfouz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naguib-mahfouz/) > [In the long run, the aggressive civilizations destroy themselves, almost always. It's their nature. They can't help it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-the-long-run-the-aggressive-civilizations-destroy-themselves/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [I do not believe that civilizations have to die because civilization is not an organism. It is a product of wills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-j-toynbee/i-do-not-believe-that-civilizations-have-to-die-because-civilization/) [Arnold J. Toynbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-j-toynbee/) > [“Future civilizations - better civilizations than this one - are going to judge all men by the extent to which they've been artists. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/future-civilizations-better-civilizations-than-this-one-are-going-to/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Isolationists believed that the ancient civilizations all developed independent of one another. Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, China, Egypt—all crossed a threshold into civilization about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-doherty/isolationists-believed-that-the-ancient-civilizations-all-developed/) [Robert Doherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-doherty/) > [Civilizations proceed from the heart rather than from the head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/civilizations-proceed-from-the-heart-rather-than-from-the-head/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Words outlive people, institutions, civilizations. Words spur images, associations, memories, inspirations and synapse pulsations. Words send off physical resonations of thought into the nethersphere.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/inga-muscio/words-outlive-people-institutions-civilizations-words-spur-images/) [Inga Muscio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/inga-muscio/) > [Civilizations evolve over time, and most scholars of civilization, including people like Carol Quigley, argue that they go through periods of warring states, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-p-huntington/civilizations-evolve-over-time-and-most-scholars-of-civilization/) [Samuel P. Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-p-huntington/) > [That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended - civilizations are built up - excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/that-is-the-key-to-history-terrific-energy-is-expended-civilizations/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [All the civilizations we know have been created and directed by small intellectual aristocracies, never by people in the mass. The power of crowds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/all-the-civilizations-we-know-have-been-created-and-directed-by-small/) [Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/) > [Each succeeding civilization forgets its predecessor. Civilizations are ghouls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gutzon-borglum/each-succeeding-civilization-forgets-its-predecessor-civilizations/) [Gutzon Borglum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gutzon-borglum/) > [In all civilizations we've studied, all cultures that we know of across the Earth and across time have invested some kind of attempt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-all-civilizations-we-ve-studied-all-cultures-that-we-know-of/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We civilizations now know ourselves mortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/we-civilizations-now-know-ourselves-mortal/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) ## More by Alan Thein Durning > [Economists use the word consume to mean "utilize economic goods," but the Shorter Oxford Dictionary's definition is more appropriate to ecologists: "To make away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-thein-durning/economists-use-the-word-consume-to-mean-utilize-economic-goods-but/) [Alan Thein Durning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-thein-durning/) > [But the basic value of a sustainable society, the ecological equivalent of the Golden Rule, is simple: each generation should meet its needs without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-thein-durning/but-the-basic-value-of-a-sustainable-society-the-ecological/) [Alan Thein Durning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-thein-durning/) > [If the life-supporting ecosystems of the planet are to survive for future generations, the consumer society will have to dramatically curtail its use of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-thein-durning/if-the-life-supporting-ecosystems-of-the-planet-are-to-survive-for/) [Alan Thein Durning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-thein-durning/) > [Dispossessed peasants slash-and-burn their way into the rain forests of Latin America, hungry nomads turn their herds out into fragile African rangeland, reducing it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-thein-durning/dispossessed-peasants-slash-and-burn-their-way-into-the-rain-forests/) [Alan Thein Durning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-thein-durning/) > [If we attempt to preserve the consumer economy indefinitely, ecological forces will dismantle it savagely. If we proceed to dismantle it gradually ourselves, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-thein-durning/if-we-attempt-to-preserve-the-consumer-economy-indefinitely/) [Alan Thein Durning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-thein-durning/) [Explore all 6 Alan Thein Durning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-thein-durning/) ## More Automobile quotes > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [So the poet, who wants to be something that he cannot be, and is a failure in plain life, makes up fictitious versions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/so-the-poet-who-wants-to-be-something-that-he-cannot-be-and-is-a/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) > [Having spent years ruining the housing markets with their interference, leading to a housing meltdown that has taken the whole economy down with it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/having-spent-years-ruining-the-housing-markets-with-their/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [There comes a day of public ceremonial, and a chance to make a speech… A million voters with IQs below 60 have their ears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-comes-a-day-of-public-ceremonial-and-a-chance-to-make-a-speech/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The power of branding, particularly when it comes to automobiles, is overwhelming. You go back to the seventies and eighties with the General Motor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-power-of-branding-particularly-when-it-comes-to-automobiles-is/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Democrats are going to proudly run on the fact that we turned the economy around. It was our policies under President Obama's leadership through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-wasserman-schultz/democrats-are-going-to-proudly-run-on-the-fact-that-we-turned-the/) [Debbie Wasserman Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-wasserman-schultz/) > [... in spite of being happier than I ever dreamed I could be, I'm also soberer. The fear that something may happen to you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-webster/in-spite-of-being-happier-than-i-ever-dreamed-i-could-be-i-m-also/) [Jean Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-webster/) > [I do not use airplanes. They strike me as unsporting. You can have an automobile accident-and survive. You can be on a sinking ship-and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/i-do-not-use-airplanes-they-strike-me-as-unsporting-you-can-have-an/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [But it is my total conviction that all the trappings of good leadership are generic and widely applicable whether you are standing in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-cosgrove/but-it-is-my-total-conviction-that-all-the-trappings-of-good/) [Peter Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-cosgrove/) > [You can see what man made from the seat of an automobile, but the best way to see what God made is from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-marion-russell/you-can-see-what-man-made-from-the-seat-of-an-automobile-but-the-best/) [Charles Marion Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-marion-russell/) > [The electronics industry expanded rapidly and the seeds for the semiconductor and software revolution were planted. The postwar period also saw the suburbanization of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/the-electronics-industry-expanded-rapidly-and-the-seeds-for-the/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [I'm a huge fan of John Hughes and can say that 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' is easily a top 3 favorite. I'm also a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-mcpartlin/i-m-a-huge-fan-of-john-hughes-and-can-say-that-planes-trains-and/) [Ryan McPartlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-mcpartlin/) > [“Most people do not realize that they are one car crash away from death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/most-people-do-not-realize-that-they-are-one-car-crash-away-from-death/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [This country has achieved its commercial and financial supremacy under a regime of private ownership. It conquered the wilderness, built our railroads, our factories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-b-cortelyou/this-country-has-achieved-its-commercial-and-financial-supremacy/) [George B. Cortelyou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-b-cortelyou/) > [“The first decade of driving is the most hazardous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-first-decade-of-driving-is-the-most-hazardous/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) [Browse all 424 Automobile quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/automobile/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Who would have predicted a century ago that the richest civilizations in history would be made up of polluted tracts of suburban development dominated by the private automobile, shopping malls, and a throwaway economy? Surely, this is not the ultimate fulfillment of our destiny.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Thein Durning" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-thein-durning/who-would-have-predicted-a-century-ago-that-the-richest-civilizations/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Automobile" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-thein-durning/who-would-have-predicted-a-century-ago-that-the-richest-civilizations/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/alan-thein-durning-53455_automobile_who-would-have-predicted-a-century-ago-t_844061.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/alan-thein-durning-53455_automobile_who-would-have-predicted-a-century-ago-t_844061.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/alan-thein-durning-53455_automobile_who-would-have-predicted-a-century-ago-t_844061.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Who would have predicted a century ago that the richest civilizations in history would be made up of…” — Alan Thein Durning", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alan Thein Durning", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-thein-durning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Who would have predicted a century...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-thein-durning/who-would-have-predicted-a-century-ago-that-the-richest-civilizations/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-thein-durning/who-would-have-predicted-a-century-ago-that-the-richest-civilizations/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```