--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think that it is impossible to think of…" description: "\"I think that it is impossible to think of a threat to social justice greater than what we are doing to the earth's atmosphere at the moment.\" — Bill Mc..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/788/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_i-think-that-it-is-impossible-to-think-o_1754972.jpg" --- # I think that it is impossible to think of a threat to… ![“I think that it is impossible to think of a threat to social justice greater than what we are doing to the earth's atmosphere at the moment.” quote by Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/788/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_i-think-that-it-is-impossible-to-think-o_1754972.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/788/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_i-think-that-it-is-impossible-to-think-o_1754972.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/788/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_i-think-that-it-is-impossible-to-think-o_1754972.jpg) > “I think that it is impossible to think of a threat to social justice greater than what we are doing to the earth's atmosphere at the moment.” [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Warns that human actions are the greatest threat to social justice, surpassing other concerns. **In simple terms:** Human impact on the atmosphere is the biggest social‑justice threat. Key Takeaway Reduce emissions now. Themes climate justice environment action Mood urgent motivational Type activist call to action When to use this quote - policy advocacy - community projects - education campaigns Key Concepts planetary health social equity policy change Questions to Reflect On - What actions can you take today? - How can you influence others? 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I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and put the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-phelps/i-wouldnt-say-anything-is-impossible-i-think-that-everything-is/) [Michael Phelps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-phelps/) > [“her. I never felt properly sorry for schizophrenics, she thought, unable to escape the voices in their heads and fighting for their sanity with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/her-i-never-felt-properly-sorry-for-schizophrenics-she-thought-unable/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [I think it can be quite impossible to think well of yourself, so I prefer not to think about that too much. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/i-think-it-can-be-quite-impossible-to-think-well-of-yourself-so-i/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) > [“Aomame tried her best to keep her mind clear of any thoughts, but it was impossible not to think of anything. Nature abhors a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/aomame-tried-her-best-to-keep-her-mind-clear-of-any-thoughts-but-it/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If you haven't understood the world you're living in, it's impossible to think that the solution you're coming up with fits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-obeng/if-you-haven-t-understood-the-world-you-re-living-in-it-s-impossible/) [Eddie Obeng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-obeng/) > [“It is impossible for us to think of any thing, which we have not antecedently felt, either by our external or internal senses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/it-is-impossible-for-us-to-think-of-any-thing-which-we-have-not/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) ## More by Bill McKibben > [I try not to be either optimistic or pessimistic. I try not to think about outcomes on that scale. My job, it seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-try-not-to-be-either-optimistic-or-pessimistic-i-try-not-to-think/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Oil companies are radical because they're willing to alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/oil-companies-are-radical-because-they-re-willing-to-alter-the/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Whenever anyone challenges anything, the powers that be try to paint them as extremists or radicals or whatever. 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No discussions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-ve-sat-behind-a-microphone-and-listened-for-decades-as-americans/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [People in low-lying countries like Bangladesh with almost 140 million people who are managing to feed themselves, whose carbon emissions can't really be calculated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/people-in-low-lying-countries-like-bangladesh-with-almost-140-million/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We're putting more carbon into the atmosphere than the atmosphere can absorb. And everybody told us when we started, coz we knew nothing when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmosphere-than-the-atmosphere-can/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Everything that the administration has done has been counterproductive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everything-that-the-administration-has-done-has-been-counterproductive/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We use the web to help people organize in the flesh, and then we take the images of those events and put them back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-use-the-web-to-help-people-organize-in-the-flesh-and-then-we-take/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [everyone knows, at some level, that the sharp line between "good weather" and "bad weather" is a fiction, that we need rain as surely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everyone-knows-at-some-level-that-the-sharp-line-between-good-weather/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [The thing about global warming is that you can address it on a great number of levels - in fact you have to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-thing-about-global-warming-is-that-you-can-address-it-on-a-great/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Where people aren't as deeply reliant on fossil fuel as in the United States, it's far easier for them to imagine change on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/where-people-aren-t-as-deeply-reliant-on-fossil-fuel-as-in-the-united/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) [Explore all 299 Bill McKibben quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## More Atmosphere quotes > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. 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Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Man will not always stay on Earth; the pursuit of light and space will lead him to penetrate the bounds of the atmosphere, timidly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konstantin-tsiolkovsky/man-will-not-always-stay-on-earth-the-pursuit-of-light-and-space-will/) [Konstantin Tsiolkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konstantin-tsiolkovsky/) > [Pause before you get home and prepare your heart. A peaceful heart leads to a peaceful atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-burns/pause-before-you-get-home-and-prepare-your-heart-a-peaceful-heart/) [Jim Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-burns/) > [Sometimes a minute is really the difference between success and failure. There are times when you finish with ten seconds left, and one extra…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-symon/sometimes-a-minute-is-really-the-difference-between-success-and/) [Michael Symon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-symon/) > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [“Atmosphere" is a massive song. 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Many prepare themselves for work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-leland/establish-an-atmosphere-that-energizes-you-some-creative-people/) [Nita Leland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-leland/) > [Each year we pump at least six billion tons of heat-trapping carbon into the innermost layer of our atmosphere, whose outer extent is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-gelbspan/each-year-we-pump-at-least-six-billion-tons-of-heat-trapping-carbon/) [Ross Gelbspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-gelbspan/) > [It was clear to me that the White House's solemn atmosphere would not civilize Trump. But the merciless nepotism with which he conducts politics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-schulz/it-was-clear-to-me-that-the-white-house-s-solemn-atmosphere-would-not/) [Martin Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-schulz/) > [“Bjerknes had come up with equations capable of describing the behavior of the atmosphere. The state of the atmosphere at any point could be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-cullen/bjerknes-had-come-up-with-equations-capable-of-describing-the/) [Heidi Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-cullen/) > [What one thing does the world need most today-apart, that is, from the all-inclusive thing we call righteousness? Aren't you inclined to agree that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/what-one-thing-does-the-world-need-most-today-apart-that-is-from-the/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [ Jowett, in his day, did probably more than any other single man to let some fresh air into the exhausted atmosphere of the \[Oxford\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-jowett/jowett-in-his-day-did-probably-more-than-any-other-single-man-to-let/) [Benjamin Jowett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-jowett/) [Browse all 1,572 Atmosphere quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atmosphere/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think that it is impossible to think of a threat to social justice greater than what we are doing to the earth's atmosphere at the moment.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill McKibben" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-think-that-it-is-impossible-to-think-of-a-threat-to-social-justice/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Atmosphere" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-think-that-it-is-impossible-to-think-of-a-threat-to-social-justice/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/788/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_i-think-that-it-is-impossible-to-think-o_1754972.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/788/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_i-think-that-it-is-impossible-to-think-o_1754972.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/788/bill-mckibben-1057_atmosphere_i-think-that-it-is-impossible-to-think-o_1754972.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think that it is impossible to think of a threat to social justice greater than what we are doing to the…” — Bill McKibben", "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": "Bill McKibben", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think that it is impossible...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-think-that-it-is-impossible-to-think-of-a-threat-to-social-justice/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-think-that-it-is-impossible-to-think-of-a-threat-to-social-justice/#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 } } ] } ```