--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An asteroid could hit us at any moment…" description: "\"An asteroid could hit us at any moment. This is not - and also, the most successful kind of life on this planet is not us, it's microbes. They're the o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_asteroid_an-asteroid-could-hit-us-at-any-moment-t_2229698.png" --- # An asteroid could hit us at any moment. This is not - and… ![“An asteroid could hit us at any moment. This is not - and also, the most successful kind of life on this planet is not us, it's microbes. They're the ones who greatly outnumber us, and may eventually destroy us.” quote by Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_asteroid_an-asteroid-could-hit-us-at-any-moment-t_2229698.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_asteroid_an-asteroid-could-hit-us-at-any-moment-t_2229698.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_asteroid_an-asteroid-could-hit-us-at-any-moment-t_2229698.png) > “An asteroid could hit us at any moment. This is not - and also, the most successful kind of life on this planet is not us, it's microbes. They're the ones who greatly outnumber us, and may eventually destroy us.” [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) ## 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 an asteroid impact is possible and that microbes dominate Earth, suggesting humanity is not the most successful life form. **In simple terms:** Asteroids could strike; microbes outnumber humans. Key Takeaway Recognize humanity’s fragility and the dominance of simple life. Themes humility existential risk biology Mood anxious reflective Type warning philosophical When to use this quote - space monitoring - public policy - education - environmental planning Key Concepts cosmology microbiology anthropocentrism Questions to Reflect On - How can societies prepare for low‑probability, high‑impact events? - What does microbial dominance mean for our self‑image? A Different Perspective Human impact is unpredictable and may be mitigated only by preparation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Asteroid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asteroid/) [Asteroids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asteroids/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Sooner or later, we will face a catastrophic threat from space. Of all the possible threats, only a gigantic asteroid hit can destroy the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/sooner-or-later-we-will-face-a-catastrophic-threat-from-space-of-all/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) > [They say asteroids hit the moon pretty often, which is how the moon gets its crater, but this one is going to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-beth-pfeffer/they-say-asteroids-hit-the-moon-pretty-often-which-is-how-the-moon/) [Susan Beth Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-beth-pfeffer/) > [If we do our homework right, never again should an asteroid that can do damage on the ground impact the Earth. We're living in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/if-we-do-our-homework-right-never-again-should-an-asteroid-that-can/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [There's no accepted global policy on what to do about asteroid impacts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/there-s-no-accepted-global-policy-on-what-to-do-about-asteroid-impacts/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [On Friday the 13th, April 2029, an asteroid large enough to fill the Rose Bowl as though it were an egg cup will fly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/on-friday-the-13th-april-2029-an-asteroid-large-enough-to-fill-the/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Newsreader: A huge asteroid could destroy Earth! And by coincidence, that's the subject of tonight's miniseries. Dogbert: In science, researchers proved that this simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/newsreader-a-huge-asteroid-could-destroy-earth-and-by-coincidence/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) > [If the Earth gets hit by an asteroid, it's game over. It's control-alt-delete for civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/if-the-earth-gets-hit-by-an-asteroid-it-s-game-over-it-s-control-alt/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [We can both prevent asteroid impacts and address climate change. It's not either-or.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/we-can-both-prevent-asteroid-impacts-and-address-climate-change-it-s/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [It would take an extremely large spacecraft to deflect a large asteroid that would be headed directly for the Earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/it-would-take-an-extremely-large-spacecraft-to-deflect-a-large/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [What happens if a big asteroid hits Earth ? Judging from realistic simulations involving a sledge hammer and a common laboratory frog, we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-happens-if-a-big-asteroid-hits-earth-judging-from-realistic/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ Imagine a giant asteroid on a direct collision course with Earth. That is the equivalent of what we face now \[with climate change\], yet… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/imagine-a-giant-asteroid-on-a-direct-collision-course-with-earth-that/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [I've seen Australia and I've lived on an asteroid and I'd take the asteroid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-ve-seen-australia-and-i-ve-lived-on-an-asteroid-and-i-d-take-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [And you know, talk about something else is falling from the sky. And that is an asteroid. What's coming our way? Is this an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-feyerick/and-you-know-talk-about-something-else-is-falling-from-the-sky-and/) Deborah Feyerick > [Back in the day, I've heard, particularly with the near-Earth asteroids, there were some asteroid hunters that knew the names of every one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/back-in-the-day-i-ve-heard-particularly-with-the-near-earth-asteroids/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [I only hope that we shall not wait to adopt the program until after our astronomers have reported a new and unsuspected asteroid moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wernher-von-braun/i-only-hope-that-we-shall-not-wait-to-adopt-the-program-until-after/) [Wernher von Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wernher-von-braun/) ## More by Barbara Ehrenreich > [Money does not bring happiness' - only the wherewithal, perhaps, to endure its absence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/money-does-not-bring-happiness-only-the-wherewithal-perhaps-to-endure/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Yes. I think the anti-Wal-Mart is Costco, which pays much better and has much better health benefits and which is profitable and offers low…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/yes-i-think-the-anti-wal-mart-is-costco-which-pays-much-better-and/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Jesus: a wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/jesus-a-wine-guzzling-vagrant-and-precocious-socialist/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [ What would it mean in practice to eliminate all the 'negative people' from one's life \[as demanded by motivational speaker J.P. Maroney\]? It might… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/what-would-it-mean-in-practice-to-eliminate-all-the-negative-people/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Wars produce warlike societies, which in turn make the world more dangerous for other societies, which are thus recruited into being war-prone themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/wars-produce-warlike-societies-which-in-turn-make-the-world-more/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Heads of state are notoriously ill prepared for their mature careers; think of Adolf Hitler (landscape painter), Ho Chi Minh (seaman), and our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/heads-of-state-are-notoriously-ill-prepared-for-their-mature-careers/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Some people make stuff; other people have to buy it. 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Compatibility was not a big issue, nor, of course, was there any tension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/marriage-probably-originated-as-a-straightforward-food-for-sex-deal/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [I became a student of the history of religion. I am fascinated by how religions often center on mystical experience, and in the Old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/i-became-a-student-of-the-history-of-religion-i-am-fascinated-by-how/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [The nation was not founded by habitual groupthinkers. But it stands a fair chance of being destroyed by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/the-nation-was-not-founded-by-habitual-groupthinkers-but-it-stands-a/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [ “You might discover that, nationwide, America's food banks are experiencing 'a torrent of need which \[they\] cannot meet' and that, according to a survey… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/you-might-discover-that-nationwide-america-s-food-banks-are/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [My Turn is the distilled bathwater of Mrs. Reagan's life. It is for the most part sweetish, with a tart edge of rebuke, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/my-turn-is-the-distilled-bathwater-of-mrs-reagan-s-life-it-is-for-the/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) [Explore all 274 Barbara Ehrenreich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) ## More Asteroid quotes > [I don't want to be the embarrassment of the galaxy to have had the power to deflect an asteroid, and then not and end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-don-t-want-to-be-the-embarrassment-of-the-galaxy-to-have-had-the/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [There are all these interesting rules about asteroid nomenclature. Once you discover it, you have the right to name it, but there's a catch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/there-are-all-these-interesting-rules-about-asteroid-nomenclature/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [“The world’s refusal to leave me out of its activities made me consider its destruction. Bring on the wave. Please, the asteroid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-nevill/the-world-s-refusal-to-leave-me-out-of-its-activities-made-me/) [Adam Nevill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-nevill/) > [An asteroid impact in the worst case scenario is a terrifying thing. It seems very uncontrollable: in popular culture, it's often a metaphor for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/an-asteroid-impact-in-the-worst-case-scenario-is-a-terrifying-thing/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [I only hope that we shall not wait to adopt the program until after our astronomers have reported a new and unsuspected asteroid moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wernher-von-braun/i-only-hope-that-we-shall-not-wait-to-adopt-the-program-until-after/) [Wernher von Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wernher-von-braun/) > [Back in the day, I've heard, particularly with the near-Earth asteroids, there were some asteroid hunters that knew the names of every one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/back-in-the-day-i-ve-heard-particularly-with-the-near-earth-asteroids/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [“50 light years from Earth, there is a 2,600-mile-long asteroid made of diamond.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bathroom-readers-institute/50-light-years-from-earth-there-is-a-2-600-mile-long-asteroid-made-of/) [Bathroom Readers' Institute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bathroom-readers-institute/) > [And you know, talk about something else is falling from the sky. And that is an asteroid. What's coming our way? Is this an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-feyerick/and-you-know-talk-about-something-else-is-falling-from-the-sky-and/) Deborah Feyerick > [Lots of science fiction deals with distant times and places. Intrepid prospectors in the Asteroid Belt. Interstellar epics. Galactic empires. Trips to the remote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/lots-of-science-fiction-deals-with-distant-times-and-places-intrepid/) [Edward M. Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/) > [I've seen Australia and I've lived on an asteroid and I'd take the asteroid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-ve-seen-australia-and-i-ve-lived-on-an-asteroid-and-i-d-take-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [ Imagine a giant asteroid on a direct collision course with Earth. That is the equivalent of what we face now \[with climate change\], yet… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/imagine-a-giant-asteroid-on-a-direct-collision-course-with-earth-that/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [If we found a hazardous asteroid, we could nudge it out of the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/if-we-found-a-hazardous-asteroid-we-could-nudge-it-out-of-the-way/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [What happens if a big asteroid hits Earth ? Judging from realistic simulations involving a sledge hammer and a common laboratory frog, we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-happens-if-a-big-asteroid-hits-earth-judging-from-realistic/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's much more likely that an asteroid will strike the Earth and annihilate life as we know it than AI will turn evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oren-etzioni/it-s-much-more-likely-that-an-asteroid-will-strike-the-earth-and/) [Oren Etzioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oren-etzioni/) > [“Outside the port, the slashed rock of the unnamed asteroid tumbled and spun in dynamics known only to the gods of chaos mathematics.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/outside-the-port-the-slashed-rock-of-the-unnamed-asteroid-tumbled-and/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) [Browse all 53 Asteroid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asteroid/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "An asteroid could hit us at any moment. 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