--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Because we humans are big and clever…" description: "\"Because we humans are big and clever enough to produce and utilize antibiotics and disinfectants, it is easy to convince ourselves that we have banishe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f1/bill-bryson-340_antibiotics_because-we-humans-are-big-and-clever-eno_2491840.jpg" --- # Because we humans are big and clever enough to produce and… ![“Because we humans are big and clever enough to produce and utilize antibiotics and disinfectants, it is easy to convince ourselves that we have banished bacteria to the fringes of existence. Don't you believe it. Bacteria may not build cities or have interesting social lives, but they will be here…” quote by Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f1/bill-bryson-340_antibiotics_because-we-humans-are-big-and-clever-eno_2491840.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f1/bill-bryson-340_antibiotics_because-we-humans-are-big-and-clever-eno_2491840.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f1/bill-bryson-340_antibiotics_because-we-humans-are-big-and-clever-eno_2491840.jpg) > “Because we humans are big and clever enough to produce and utilize antibiotics and disinfectants, it is easy to convince ourselves that we have banished bacteria to the fringes of existence. Don't you believe it. Bacteria may not build cities or have interesting social lives, but they will be here when the Sun explodes. This is their planet, and we are on it only because they allow us to be.” [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We overestimate our control over microbes, forgetting they are fundamental to life on Earth. **In simple terms:** Humans think we’ve eliminated bacteria, but they’re essential and inevitable. Key Takeaway Respect microbial life and its role. Themes humility biology environment Mood thoughtful reflective Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - public health policy - education - research funding - personal hygiene Key Concepts Ecology microbiology anthropocentrism Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing bacterial importance change our behavior? - What responsibilities do we have toward unseen life? A Different Perspective Our technologies can’t fully eradicate microbes; they adapt. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bacteria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bacteria/) [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Clever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Fringe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fringe/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) ## Related quotes > [I think the easiest application to help people understand what quorum sensing is and why it's important to study is to tell them that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-bassler/i-think-the-easiest-application-to-help-people-understand-what-quorum/) [Bonnie Bassler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-bassler/) > [When antibiotics first came out, nobody could have imagined we'd have the resistance problem we face today. We didn't give bacteria credit for being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-bassler/when-antibiotics-first-came-out-nobody-could-have-imagined-we-d-have/) [Bonnie Bassler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-bassler/) > [Natural selection certainly operates. It explains how bacteria will gain antibiotic resistance; it will explain how insects get insecticide resistance, but it doesn't explain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-a-dembski/natural-selection-certainly-operates-it-explains-how-bacteria-will/) [William A. Dembski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-dembski/) > [Take pandemics. There could easily be a severe pandemic. A lot of that comes from something we don't pay much attention to: Eating meat.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/take-pandemics-there-could-easily-be-a-severe-pandemic-a-lot-of-that/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [One sometimes finds what one is not looking for. When I woke up just after dawn on Sept. 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-fleming/one-sometimes-finds-what-one-is-not-looking-for-when-i-woke-up-just/) [Alexander Fleming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-fleming/) > [There's very little that shocks me because I consider life a miracle so I guess what shocks me is that life exists. How the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-siegel/there-s-very-little-that-shocks-me-because-i-consider-life-a-miracle/) [Bernie Siegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-siegel/) > [Since we're living with antibiotic drugs and chlorinated water and antibacterial soap and all these factors in our contemporary lives that I'd group together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandor-katz/since-we-re-living-with-antibiotic-drugs-and-chlorinated-water-and/) Sandor Katz > [When antibiotics became industrially produced following World War II, our quality of life and our longevity improved enormously. No one thought bacteria were going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-bassler/when-antibiotics-became-industrially-produced-following-world-war-ii/) [Bonnie Bassler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-bassler/) > [I expect that essential oils may some day prove a vital weapon in the fight against strains of antibiotic-resi stant bacteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-weil/i-expect-that-essential-oils-may-some-day-prove-a-vital-weapon-in-the/) [Andrew Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-weil/) > [Climate change and air pollution know no borders, and antibiotics resistance respects no boundaries. Bacteria from Africa can make people in America sick. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohini-nilekani/climate-change-and-air-pollution-know-no-borders-and-antibiotics/) [Rohini Nilekani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohini-nilekani/) > [We've all been sick; we're all afraid of infection. I think the easiest application to help people understand what quorum sensing is and why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-bassler/we-ve-all-been-sick-we-re-all-afraid-of-infection-i-think-the-easiest/) [Bonnie Bassler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-bassler/) > [As James Surowiecki noted in a New Yorker article, given a choice between developing antibiotics that people will take every day for two weeks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/as-james-surowiecki-noted-in-a-new-yorker-article-given-a-choice/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“So why, you are bound to ask at some point in your life, do microbes so often want to hurt us? What possible satisfaction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/so-why-you-are-bound-to-ask-at-some-point-in-your-life-do-microbes-so/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“At depth, microbes shrink in size and become extremely sluggish. The liveliest of them may divide no more than once a century18, some no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/at-depth-microbes-shrink-in-size-and-become-extremely-sluggish-the/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Widespread use of antibiotics promotes the spread of antibiotic resistance. Smart use of antibiotics is the key to controlling its spread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-p-j-abdul-kalam/widespread-use-of-antibiotics-promotes-the-spread-of-antibiotic/) [A. P. J. Abdul Kalam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-p-j-abdul-kalam/) ## More by Bill Bryson > [Most big companies don't like you very much, except hotels, airlines and Microsoft, which don't like you at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/most-big-companies-don-t-like-you-very-much-except-hotels-airlines/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“But Welsh spellings are as nothing compared with Irish Gaelic, a language in which spelling and pronunciation give the impression of having been devised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/but-welsh-spellings-are-as-nothing-compared-with-irish-gaelic-a/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“Pantaloons were often worn tight as paint and were not a great deal less revealing, particularly as they were worn without underwear. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/pantaloons-were-often-worn-tight-as-paint-and-were-not-a-great-deal/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [If you go out on the Appalachian Trail, you have to bring so much more equipment - a tent, sleeping bag - but if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-you-go-out-on-the-appalachian-trail-you-have-to-bring-so-much-more/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“The dining table was a plain board called by that name. 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For 93 percent of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/every-twenty-minutes-on-the-appalachian-trail-katz-and-i-walked/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“A diarist named George Templeton Strong recorded in the winter of 1866 that even with two furnaces alight and all the fireplaces blazing, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/a-diarist-named-george-templeton-strong-recorded-in-the-winter-of/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Tune your television to any channel it doesn't receive and about 1 percent of the dancing static you see is accounted for by this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/tune-your-television-to-any-channel-it-doesn-t-receive-and-about-1/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [As a rule of thumb, I would submit that if you need to call your floss provider, for any reason, you are probably not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/as-a-rule-of-thumb-i-would-submit-that-if-you-need-to-call-your-floss/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Nobody gets excited about the future at all, ever. The future is something we find depressing and worrisome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/nobody-gets-excited-about-the-future-at-all-ever-the-future-is/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“What made this particularly interesting is that John Howard is by far the dullest man in Australia. Imagine a very committed funeral home director…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/what-made-this-particularly-interesting-is-that-john-howard-is-by-far/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [I would make a genuinely terrible guide. I can't remember things. I would get half way through telling a story or explaining something and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/i-would-make-a-genuinely-terrible-guide-i-can-t-remember-things-i/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“In the mystifying world that was Victorian parenthood, obedience took precedence over all considerations of affection and happiness, and that odd, painful conviction remained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/in-the-mystifying-world-that-was-victorian-parenthood-obedience-took/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [If this book has a lesson, it is that we are awfully lucky to be here-and by 'we' I mean every living thing. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-this-book-has-a-lesson-it-is-that-we-are-awfully-lucky-to-be-here/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) [Explore all 656 Bill Bryson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) ## More Antibiotics quotes > [Widespread use of antibiotics promotes the spread of antibiotic resistance. Smart use of antibiotics is the key to controlling its spread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-p-j-abdul-kalam/widespread-use-of-antibiotics-promotes-the-spread-of-antibiotic/) [A. P. J. Abdul Kalam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-p-j-abdul-kalam/) > [When we prescribe antibiotics for a strep throat, it's not even for the strep throat. 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I am really suspicious of that kind of production…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-waters/i-don-t-want-food-that-comes-from-animals-that-are-caged-up-and-fed/) [Alice Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-waters/) > [I don't prefer to fill my body with antibiotics, pesticides, steroids, and growth hormones - my body is my temple, and I treat it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-whang/i-don-t-prefer-to-fill-my-body-with-antibiotics-pesticides-steroids/) Suzanne Whang > [I've never had a sinus infection or been on antibiotics since cutting out dairy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mayim-bialik/i-ve-never-had-a-sinus-infection-or-been-on-antibiotics-since-cutting/) [Mayim Bialik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mayim-bialik/) > [Medicine allows people to live who would otherwise die, so antibiotics will let people survive infections that they might be otherwise very vulnerable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-zimmer/medicine-allows-people-to-live-who-would-otherwise-die-so-antibiotics/) [Carl Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-zimmer/) > [Do any of us actually want to live in a world where your boss can decide that he or she is morally opposed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-carmona/do-any-of-us-actually-want-to-live-in-a-world-where-your-boss-can/) [Richard Carmona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-carmona/) > [Even diseases have lost their prestige, there aren't so many of them left. Think it over... no more syphilis, no more clap, no more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-ferdinand-celine/even-diseases-have-lost-their-prestige-there-aren-t-so-many-of-them/) [Louis-Ferdinand Celine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-ferdinand-celine/) > [People are going to start realizing, why take those antibiotics that are extracts of mushrooms? Why not just have the mushrooms?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wolfe/people-are-going-to-start-realizing-why-take-those-antibiotics-that/) [David Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wolfe/) > [Up to 90% of the total decline in the death rate of children between 1860-1965 because of whooping cough, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and measles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archie-kalokerinos/up-to-90-of-the-total-decline-in-the-death-rate-of-children-between/) [Archie Kalokerinos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archie-kalokerinos/) > [“Food animals also get antibiotics for “growth promotion,” a metabolically mysterious process that has made possible the entire high-volume, low-margin business of industrial-scale farming.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryn-mckenna/food-animals-also-get-antibiotics-for-growth-promotion-a/) [Maryn McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryn-mckenna/) > [The greatest analgesic, soporific, stimulant, tranquilizer, narcotic, and to some extent even antibiotic - in short, the closest thing to a genuine panacea -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/the-greatest-analgesic-soporific-stimulant-tranquilizer-narcotic-and/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) Browse all 109 Antibiotics quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Because we humans are big and clever enough to produce and utilize antibiotics and disinfectants, it is easy to convince ourselves that we have banished bacteria to the fringes of existence. 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