--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Unthinkable is not a book about…" description: "\"“The Unthinkable is not a book about disaster recovery; it’s about what happens in the midst—before the police and firefighters arrive, before reporter..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f92/amanda-ripley-10708_book_the-unthinkable-is-not-a-book-about-disa_1922471.jpg" --- # The Unthinkable is not a book about disaster recovery… ![“The Unthinkable is not a book about disaster recovery; it’s about what happens in the midst—before the police and firefighters arrive, before reporters show up in their rain slickers, before a structure is imposed on the loss. This is a book about the survival arc we all must travel to get from…” quote by Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f92/amanda-ripley-10708_book_the-unthinkable-is-not-a-book-about-disa_1922471.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f92/amanda-ripley-10708_book_the-unthinkable-is-not-a-book-about-disa_1922471.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f92/amanda-ripley-10708_book_the-unthinkable-is-not-a-book-about-disa_1922471.jpg) > ““The Unthinkable is not a book about disaster recovery; it’s about what happens in the midst—before the police and firefighters arrive, before reporters show up in their rain slickers, before a structure is imposed on the loss. This is a book about the survival arc we all must travel to get from danger to safety.”” [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Survival involves navigating the chaotic moments before official help arrives. **In simple terms:** Survival is about the in‑between. Key Takeaway Focus on personal readiness. Themes crisis management resilience preparedness Mood cautionary practical Type educational informative When to use this quote - natural disasters - home emergencies - medical crises - terrorist attacks Key Concepts survival psychology risk assessment Questions to Reflect On - How can you prepare for the unknown? - What resources are essential in early crisis stages? A Different Perspective Individual actions may be limited by systemic failures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Disaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disaster/) ## Related quotes > [Paralysis seems to happen on the steepest slope of the survival arc—where almost all hope is lost, when escape seems impossible, and when the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/paralysis-seems-to-happen-on-the-steepest-slope-of-the-survival-arc/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [Cloud services cut both ways in terms of security: you get off-site backup and disaster recovery, but you entrust your secrets to somebody else's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/cloud-services-cut-both-ways-in-terms-of-security-you-get-off-site/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [My anxiety about disasters is lower. The more you know, the less scary any of this stuff is. And that's my hope for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/my-anxiety-about-disasters-is-lower-the-more-you-know-the-less-scary/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [Well, there isn't any one profile of a survivor, but there are profiles. Depending on the disaster you have certain advantages and disadvantages just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/well-there-isn-t-any-one-profile-of-a-survivor-but-there-are-profiles/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [It would be unthinkable in Canadian public life today for the public inauguration of our supreme political figures to be accompanied by prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stockwell-day/it-would-be-unthinkable-in-canadian-public-life-today-for-the-public/) [Stockwell Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stockwell-day/) > [You staying home all alone on New Year's Eve? Unthinkable. Take my advice the countdown should be shared with someone, or it's just another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-staying-home-all-alone-on-new-year-s-eve-unthinkable-take-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [She wanted to say, no. She wanted to say, I have a son, there is a child, this cannot happen. Because you know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-o-farrell/she-wanted-to-say-no-she-wanted-to-say-i-have-a-son-there-is-a-child/) [Maggie O'Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-o-farrell/) > [But sometimes it's good to dare yourself to do the unthinkable. And rather than stand in front of an audience with no clothes on,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-davis/but-sometimes-it-s-good-to-dare-yourself-to-do-the-unthinkable-and/) [Evan Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-davis/) > [You don't think of yourself as your external representation, or even your national origin or anything like that. You don't reduce yourself to that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vijay-seshadri/you-don-t-think-of-yourself-as-your-external-representation-or-even/) [Vijay Seshadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vijay-seshadri/) > [ \[Humans'\] capacity to intervene, to compare, to judge, to decide, to choose, to desist makes them capable of acts of greatness, of dignity, and,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/humans-capacity-to-intervene-to-compare-to-judge-to-decide-to-choose/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [Each person is a temporary focus of forces, vitalities, and values that carry back to an immemorial past and that reach forward into an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/each-person-is-a-temporary-focus-of-forces-vitalities-and-values-that/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [“When life hands you the unthinkable you must find new ways to see.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-sharp/when-life-hands-you-the-unthinkable-you-must-find-new-ways-to-see/) Nancy Sharp > [Some were paid solely for their ability to dream up the unthinkable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olen-steinhauer/some-were-paid-solely-for-their-ability-to-dream-up-the-unthinkable/) [Olen Steinhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olen-steinhauer/) > [Once you decide that mediocrity is unthinkable, your only choices are excellence and quitting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-murray/once-you-decide-that-mediocrity-is-unthinkable-your-only-choices-are/) [Nick Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-murray/) > [Though an atom is invisible, unthinkable, yet in it are the whole power and potency of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/though-an-atom-is-invisible-unthinkable-yet-in-it-are-the-whole-power/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) ## More by Amanda Ripley > [Well, there isn't any one profile of a survivor, but there are profiles. Depending on the disaster you have certain advantages and disadvantages just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/well-there-isn-t-any-one-profile-of-a-survivor-but-there-are-profiles/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [“Kids meet the expectations you set for them,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/kids-meet-the-expectations-you-set-for-them/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [Resilience is a precious skill. People who have it tend to also have three underlying advantages: a believe that they can influence life events;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/resilience-is-a-precious-skill-people-who-have-it-tend-to-also-have/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [ By sort of combining the research of a lot of smart people, I came up with an equation for dread \[dread=uncontrollability+unfamiliarity+imaginability+suffering+scale of destruction+unfairness\]. The… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/by-sort-of-combining-the-research-of-a-lot-of-smart-people-i-came-up/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [The one thread that was most surprising and most consistent was the lack of fear that people felt at the worst moment. They felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/the-one-thread-that-was-most-surprising-and-most-consistent-was-the/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [“Since 9/11, the U.S. government has sent over $23 billion to states and cities in the name of homeland security. Almost none of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/since-9-11-the-u-s-government-has-sent-over-23-billion-to-states-and/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [“One thing was clear: To give our kids the kind of education they deserved, we had to first agree that rigor mattered most of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/one-thing-was-clear-to-give-our-kids-the-kind-of-education-they/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [“Everywhere I went, in every country, people complained about their education system. It was a universal truth and a strangely reassuring one. No one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/everywhere-i-went-in-every-country-people-complained-about-their/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [My anxiety about disasters is lower. The more you know, the less scary any of this stuff is. And that's my hope for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/my-anxiety-about-disasters-is-lower-the-more-you-know-the-less-scary/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [“In almost every other developed country, the schools with the poorest students had more teachers per student; the opposite was true in only four…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/in-almost-every-other-developed-country-the-schools-with-the-poorest/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [“These days, we tend to think of disasters as acts of God and government. Regular people only feature into the equation as victims, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/these-days-we-tend-to-think-of-disasters-as-acts-of-god-and/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [“Statistically speaking, tracking tended to diminish learning and boost inequality wherever it was tried. In general, the younger tracking happened, the worse the entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/statistically-speaking-tracking-tended-to-diminish-learning-and-boost/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [“Economists had found an almost one-to-one match between PISA scores and a nation's long term economic growth. Many other things influenced economic growth, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/economists-had-found-an-almost-one-to-one-match-between-pisa-scores/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [Narrative is the beginning of recovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/narrative-is-the-beginning-of-recovery/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [“The Iron Child culture was contagious; it was hard for kids and parents to resist the pressure to study more and more. But all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/the-iron-child-culture-was-contagious-it-was-hard-for-kids-and/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) [Explore all 64 Amanda Ripley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The Unthinkable is not a book about disaster recovery; it’s about what happens in the midst—before the police and firefighters arrive, before reporters show up in their rain slickers, before a structure is imposed on the loss. 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