--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What's the point of truth or beauty or…" description: "\"“What's the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when the anthrax bombs are popping all around you?”\" — Aldous Huxley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17c/aldous-huxley-97_anthrax_what-s-the-point-of-truth-or-beauty-or-k_665603.jpg" --- # What's the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when the… ![“What's the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when the anthrax bombs are popping all around you?” quote by Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17c/aldous-huxley-97_anthrax_what-s-the-point-of-truth-or-beauty-or-k_665603.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17c/aldous-huxley-97_anthrax_what-s-the-point-of-truth-or-beauty-or-k_665603.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17c/aldous-huxley-97_anthrax_what-s-the-point-of-truth-or-beauty-or-k_665603.jpg) > ““What's the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when the anthrax bombs are popping all around you?”” [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. In the face of catastrophic threats, questions of truth, beauty, and knowledge seem irrelevant. **In simple terms:** Catastrophe makes philosophy feel pointless. Key Takeaway Consider meaning amid crisis. Themes existential crisis truth beauty knowledge Mood somber thoughtful Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - war - pandemic - environmental disaster Key Concepts philosophical nihilism ethical urgency human resilience Questions to Reflect On - What remains valuable in disaster? - Can art survive catastrophe? A Different Perspective Neglects hope for progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Bombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bombs/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [When World War II came along, which was when I was a teenager, we all expected we would have anthrax bombs and this kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/when-world-war-ii-came-along-which-was-when-i-was-a-teenager-we-all/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [At the vital point of truth, we all become a conscientious objector.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-lyman-atwood-marshall/at-the-vital-point-of-truth-we-all-become-a-conscientious-objector/) [Samuel Lyman Atwood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-lyman-atwood-marshall/) > [Again and again one can listen: this is my opinion, I think this or that... As if it matters, what one or the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-steiner/again-and-again-one-can-listen-this-is-my-opinion-i-think-this-or/) [Rudolf Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-steiner/) > [“His point, again and again, was that truth wasn’t the property of any one faith and that, if you looked closely, you found a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/his-point-again-and-again-was-that-truth-wasn-t-the-property-of-any/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [“Our Ford himself did a great deal to shift the emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness. Mass production demanded the shift.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/our-ford-himself-did-a-great-deal-to-shift-the-emphasis-from-truth-2/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can't. And, of course, whenever the masses seized political power, then it was happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/universal-happiness-keeps-the-wheels-steadily-turning-truth-and-2/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning, truth and beauty can't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/universal-happiness-keeps-the-wheels-steadily-turning-truth-and/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [The biological agents we believe Iraq can produce include anthrax, botulinum, toxin, aflatoxin and ricin. All eventually result in excruciatingly painful death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/the-biological-agents-we-believe-iraq-can-produce-include-anthrax/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [Liberals compare Jerry Falwell to the Taliban, but then are furious with George Bush for not being Jesus Christ. Evidently, what a president is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/liberals-compare-jerry-falwell-to-the-taliban-but-then-are-furious/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [Metal is easily my favorite thing - Exodus and Anthrax and Megadeth - so it just kind of organically came through in the standup…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-posehn/metal-is-easily-my-favorite-thing-exodus-and-anthrax-and-megadeth-so/) [Brian Posehn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-posehn/) > [I acknowledge the right of the authorities and the press to satisfy themselves as to whether I am the anthrax mailer. This does not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-hatfill/i-acknowledge-the-right-of-the-authorities-and-the-press-to-satisfy/) [Steven Hatfill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-hatfill/) > [If you take the biological weapons in the United States we still will have perhaps a single individual who was able to make anthrax,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/if-you-take-the-biological-weapons-in-the-united-states-we-still-will/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [It's not anthrax or terrorism or AIDS that is the worst ill in our world: The most horrible disease in the world is hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/it-s-not-anthrax-or-terrorism-or-aids-that-is-the-worst-ill-in-our/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [Well germ warfare of course exists. There have been on a small scale... There have been, of course, a few people who got killed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/well-germ-warfare-of-course-exists-there-have-been-on-a-small-scale/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [To mess around with Ebola is an easy way to die. Better to work with something safer, such as anthrax.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-preston/to-mess-around-with-ebola-is-an-easy-way-to-die-better-to-work-with/) [Richard Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-preston/) ## More by Aldous Huxley > [“Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/unorthodoxy-threatens-more-than-the-life-of-a-mere-individual-it/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [My fate cannot be mastered; it can only be collaborated with and thereby, to some extent, directed. 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? And his answer is: No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-question-for-the-man-of-sense-is-do-we-or-do-we-not-want-to-go-to/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“I’ll MAKE you be free whether you want to or not.’ -The Savage”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/i-ll-make-you-be-free-whether-you-want-to-or-not-the-savage/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Thought of the incomprehensible sequence of changes and chances that make up a life, all the beauties and horrors and absurdities whose conjunctions create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/thought-of-the-incomprehensible-sequence-of-changes-and-chances-that/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [The third petition of the Lord's Prayer is repeated daily by millions who have not the slightest intention of letting anyone's will be done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-third-petition-of-the-lord-s-prayer-is-repeated-daily-by-millions/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Then what’s time for?” asked Lenina in some astonishment. 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 Anthrax quotes > [To mess around with Ebola is an easy way to die. Better to work with something safer, such as anthrax.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-preston/to-mess-around-with-ebola-is-an-easy-way-to-die-better-to-work-with/) [Richard Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-preston/) > [Liberals compare Jerry Falwell to the Taliban, but then are furious with George Bush for not being Jesus Christ. Evidently, what a president is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/liberals-compare-jerry-falwell-to-the-taliban-but-then-are-furious/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [If you take the biological weapons in the United States we still will have perhaps a single individual who was able to make anthrax,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/if-you-take-the-biological-weapons-in-the-united-states-we-still-will/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [When World War II came along, which was when I was a teenager, we all expected we would have anthrax bombs and this kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/when-world-war-ii-came-along-which-was-when-i-was-a-teenager-we-all/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [The biological agents we believe Iraq can produce include anthrax, botulinum, toxin, aflatoxin and ricin. All eventually result in excruciatingly painful death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/the-biological-agents-we-believe-iraq-can-produce-include-anthrax/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [Well germ warfare of course exists. There have been on a small scale... There have been, of course, a few people who got killed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/well-germ-warfare-of-course-exists-there-have-been-on-a-small-scale/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [It's not anthrax or terrorism or AIDS that is the worst ill in our world: The most horrible disease in the world is hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/it-s-not-anthrax-or-terrorism-or-aids-that-is-the-worst-ill-in-our/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I acknowledge the right of the authorities and the press to satisfy themselves as to whether I am the anthrax mailer. This does not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-hatfill/i-acknowledge-the-right-of-the-authorities-and-the-press-to-satisfy/) [Steven Hatfill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-hatfill/) > [Metal is easily my favorite thing - Exodus and Anthrax and Megadeth - so it just kind of organically came through in the standup…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-posehn/metal-is-easily-my-favorite-thing-exodus-and-anthrax-and-megadeth-so/) [Brian Posehn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-posehn/) > [Later, I went down to the Washington field office and an onsite polygraph was administered. After reviewing the polygraph charts in private, the polygraph…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-hatfill/later-i-went-down-to-the-washington-field-office-and-an-onsite-2/) [Steven Hatfill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-hatfill/) > [“I thought we stopped using grunts as guinea pigs decades ago. Even the Nazis didn't run medical experiments on their own troops in combat.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-matsumoto/i-thought-we-stopped-using-grunts-as-guinea-pigs-decades-ago-even-the/) Gary Matsumoto > [You never get quite down to the bottom of the barrel, but we are much higher than that at the present time. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/you-never-get-quite-down-to-the-bottom-of-the-barrel-but-we-are-much/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people's hope for freedom. The Iraqi regime has plotted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/iran-aggressively-pursues-these-weapons-and-exports-terror-while-an/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [After eight months of one of the most intensive public and private investigations in American history, no one - no one - has come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-hatfill/after-eight-months-of-one-of-the-most-intensive-public-and-private/) [Steven Hatfill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-hatfill/) > [“Plasma blasts scald asphalt; napalm blasts parch macadam (glass shards act as haphazard abradants that sandblast all landwrack)...A mad labman at a lab crafts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-b-k/plasma-blasts-scald-asphalt-napalm-blasts-parch-macadam-glass-shards/) [Christian Bök](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-b-k/) Browse all 47 Anthrax quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What's the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when the anthrax bombs are popping all around you?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Aldous Huxley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/what-s-the-point-of-truth-or-beauty-or-knowledge-when-the-anthrax/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anthrax" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/what-s-the-point-of-truth-or-beauty-or-knowledge-when-the-anthrax/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17c/aldous-huxley-97_anthrax_what-s-the-point-of-truth-or-beauty-or-k_665603.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17c/aldous-huxley-97_anthrax_what-s-the-point-of-truth-or-beauty-or-k_665603.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17c/aldous-huxley-97_anthrax_what-s-the-point-of-truth-or-beauty-or-k_665603.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What's the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when the anthrax bombs are popping all around you?” — Aldous Huxley", "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": "Aldous Huxley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“What's the point of truth or...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/what-s-the-point-of-truth-or-beauty-or-knowledge-when-the-anthrax/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/what-s-the-point-of-truth-or-beauty-or-knowledge-when-the-anthrax/#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 } } ] } ```