--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The machine turns, turns and must keep on…" description: "\"“The machine turns, turns and must keep on turning—for ever. It is death if it stands still. A thousand millions scrabbled the crust of the earth. The ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a0/aldous-huxley-97_computers_the-machine-turns-turns-and-must-keep-on_75568.jpg" --- # The machine turns, turns and must keep on turning—for… ![“The machine turns, turns and must keep on turning—for ever. It is death if it stands still. A thousand millions scrabbled the crust of the earth. The wheels began to turn. In a hundred and fifty years there were two thousand millions. Stop all the wheels. In a hundred and fifty weeks there are…” quote by Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a0/aldous-huxley-97_computers_the-machine-turns-turns-and-must-keep-on_75568.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a0/aldous-huxley-97_computers_the-machine-turns-turns-and-must-keep-on_75568.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a0/aldous-huxley-97_computers_the-machine-turns-turns-and-must-keep-on_75568.jpg) > ““The machine turns, turns and must keep on turning—for ever. It is death if it stands still. A thousand millions scrabbled the crust of the earth. The wheels began to turn. In a hundred and fifty years there were two thousand millions. Stop all the wheels. In a hundred and fifty weeks there are once more only a thousand millions; a thousand thousand thousand men and women have starved to death.”” [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An allegorical warning that relentless industrial and economic expansion, if unchecked, leads to resource depletion and human suffering. **In simple terms:** Unchecked growth harms humanity. Key Takeaway Sustainable limits are essential. Themes industrialization resource scarcity human cost economic cycles environmental decay Mood cautionary somber Type warning philosophical When to use this quote - policy planning - corporate strategy - environmental activism - academic research Key Concepts overproduction population pressure inequality Practical Applications - forecasting resource constraints - designing sustainable growth models Questions to Reflect On - What mechanisms can balance growth with ecological stewardship? - How can societies prevent the human toll of overexpansion? A Different Perspective Some argue that technological innovation can overcome resource limits, but this often overlooks ecological and social externalities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Machine Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machine-turns-979522/) [Men and women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-and-women/) [Stands Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stands-thousand-979524/) [Turning Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turning-death-979525/) [Wheels Began](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wheels-began-979523/) [Years Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-thousand-979526/) ## Related quotes > [“The sea accepts a hundred rivers, grows big by accepting The cliff stands a thousand feet, is strong by not desiring.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/er-tai-gao/the-sea-accepts-a-hundred-rivers-grows-big-by-accepting-the-cliff/) [Er Tai Gao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/er-tai-gao/) > [“Nonetheless, out of a life of 60 or 70 years, three years is more than a thousand days and a thousand nights”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alija-izetbegovic/nonetheless-out-of-a-life-of-60-or-70-years-three-years-is-more-than/) [Alija Izetbegović](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alija-izetbegovic/) > [I could paint for a hundred years, a thousand years without stopping and I would still feel as though I knew nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-cezanne/i-could-paint-for-a-hundred-years-a-thousand-years-without-stopping/) [Paul Cezanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-cezanne/) > [Three years? 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Nor am I the captain of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/my-fate-cannot-be-mastered-it-can-only-be-collaborated-with-and/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Impulse arrested spills over, and the flood is feeling, the flood is passion, the flood is even madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/impulse-arrested-spills-over-and-the-flood-is-feeling-the-flood-is/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Of course the Dharma-body of the Buddha was the hedge at the bottom of the garden. At the same time, and no less obviously,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/of-course-the-dharma-body-of-the-buddha-was-the-hedge-at-the-bottom/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“The question for the man of sense is: Do we or do we not want to go to hell? 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Apparently, for going on walks in the Lake District; for that was what he now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/then-what-s-time-for-asked-lenina-in-some-astonishment-apparently-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/all-right-then-said-the-savage-defiantly-i-m-claiming-the-right-to-be/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Speed, it seems to me, provides the one genuinely modern pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/speed-it-seems-to-me-provides-the-one-genuinely-modern-pleasure/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“What you need is a gramme of soma.” “All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/what-you-need-is-a-gramme-of-soma-all-the-advantages-of-christianity/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [To be enlightened is to be aware, always, of total reality in its immanent otherness - to be aware of it and yet remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/to-be-enlightened-is-to-be-aware-always-of-total-reality-in-its/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Quote of the day:Quote of the day: A democracy which makes or even effectively prepares for modern, scientific war must necessarily cease to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/quote-of-the-day-quote-of-the-day-a-democracy-which-makes-or-even/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) [Explore all 1,291 Aldous Huxley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## More Computers quotes > [I don't understand why we're all connected wirelessly via a little machine that goes in our pocket, to everybody in the world, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-m-chu/i-don-t-understand-why-we-re-all-connected-wirelessly-via-a-little/) [Jon M. 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