--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What we're talking about is the endless…" description: "\"What we're talking about is the endless, gullible elevation of necessary levels of comfort and status and everything else at the complete expense of al..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c6/bill-mckibben-1057_bits_what-we-re-talking-about-is-the-endless_537317.jpg" --- # What we're talking about is the endless, gullible… ![“What we're talking about is the endless, gullible elevation of necessary levels of comfort and status and everything else at the complete expense of all around us. It's going to take us a long time to learn how to climb down a little bit from the heights on which we have put ourselves.” quote by Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c6/bill-mckibben-1057_bits_what-we-re-talking-about-is-the-endless_537317.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c6/bill-mckibben-1057_bits_what-we-re-talking-about-is-the-endless_537317.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c6/bill-mckibben-1057_bits_what-we-re-talking-about-is-the-endless_537317.jpg) > “What we're talking about is the endless, gullible elevation of necessary levels of comfort and status and everything else at the complete expense of all around us. It's going to take us a long time to learn how to climb down a little bit from the heights on which we have put ourselves.” [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. Societal pursuit of ever‑higher comfort and status harms the environment and community. **In simple terms:** Chasing more comfort and status damages the world. Key Takeaway Prioritize sustainable, modest living. Themes environment consumerism ethics Mood concerned thoughtful Type philosophical activist When to use this quote - urban planning - policy making - personal lifestyle choices Key Concepts sustainability social responsibility growth limits Questions to Reflect On - What comforts can you reduce for greater good? - How does status drive unsustainable growth? A Different Perspective Changing deep‑rooted habits is difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bits/) [Climb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climb/) [Climbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climbs/) [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) [Consumerism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumerism/) [Elevation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elevation/) [Elevation Necessary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elevation-necessary-4500741/) [Endless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endless/) [Endless Gullible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endless-gullible-4500742/) [Expenses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expenses/) [Gullible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gullible/) [Gullible Elevation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gullible-elevation-4500740/) [Height](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/height/) [Levels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/levels/) [Little bit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-bit/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [Overconsumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overconsumption/) [Talking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talking/) ## Related quotes > [We, all of us in the First World, have participated in something of a binge, a half century of unbelievable prosperity and ease. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-all-of-us-in-the-first-world-have-participated-in-something-of-a/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [If we were built, what were we built for? ... Why do we have this amazing collection of sinews, senses, and sensibilities? Were we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/if-we-were-built-what-were-we-built-for-why-do-we-have-this-amazing/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [The human population is 90% gullible, violence-prone dipshits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/the-human-population-is-90-gullible-violence-prone-dipshits/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) > [So-called 'higher education' is a veritable magnet for second-raters and actively destructive parasites bent on promoting unsound ideas to the inexperienced and gullible. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-casey/so-called-higher-education-is-a-veritable-magnet-for-second-raters/) [Doug Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-casey/) > [I don't want to say 'gullible,' but when I saw someone, I always thought that person is the way they present themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grigor-dimitrov/i-don-t-want-to-say-gullible-but-when-i-saw-someone-i-always-thought/) [Grigor Dimitrov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grigor-dimitrov/) > [I was once so Innocent once so young once so stupid once so gullible once so care free It Truly Only Take's Once !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/destinysmith/i-was-once-so-innocent-once-so-young-once-so-stupid-once-so-gullible/) [Destinysmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/destinysmith/) > [That was the year the British decided to get out and sell everything. So I immediately held an election. I knew the people will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/that-was-the-year-the-british-decided-to-get-out-and-sell-everything/) [Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/) > [“If you are inherently a good guy, which I think I am, you instinctively want to help people even before you know what their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-skinner/if-you-are-inherently-a-good-guy-which-i-think-i-am-you-instinctively/) [Dan Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-skinner/) > [Usually sociopaths will look down upon us for that very reason - that we're gullible. We're weak. One person told me that he thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/usually-sociopaths-will-look-down-upon-us-for-that-very-reason-that/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [Gossip is a plague that consumes weak, gullible people and blinds them from the truth of reality; it can devour entire city's. I prefer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-spade/gossip-is-a-plague-that-consumes-weak-gullible-people-and-blinds-them/) [David Spade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-spade/) > [The only thing that can be expected from the next US president is more war, more murder, and more oppression of the gullible American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-craig-roberts/the-only-thing-that-can-be-expected-from-the-next-us-president-is/) [Paul Craig Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-craig-roberts/) > [I'm so gullible. I'm so damn gullible. And I am so sick of me being gullible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-turner/i-m-so-gullible-i-m-so-damn-gullible-and-i-am-so-sick-of-me-being/) [Lana Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-turner/) > [I was so gullible as a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-keaton/i-was-so-gullible-as-a-kid/) [Michael Keaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-keaton/) > [“Jichan looked surprised. "Nothing wrong with gullible. How you be happy if not gullible?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-kadohata/jichan-looked-surprised-nothing-wrong-with-gullible-how-you-be-happy/) [Cynthia Kadohata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-kadohata/) > [Violence is fomented by the imposition of singular and belligerent identities on gullible people, championed by proficient artisans of terror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/violence-is-fomented-by-the-imposition-of-singular-and-belligerent/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) ## 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. And I think that's actually nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/whenever-anyone-challenges-anything-the-powers-that-be-try-to-paint/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [My guess is that liberating the fossil fuel industry to frack anywhere they want will drive down the rate at which we're converting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/my-guess-is-that-liberating-the-fossil-fuel-industry-to-frack/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [What makes us different? We're the creature that can decide not to do something that we are capable of doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/what-makes-us-different-we-re-the-creature-that-can-decide-not-to-do/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“The snow was coming down so hard. It looked like the flakes were hurrying to get out of the sky so the next ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-snow-was-coming-down-so-hard-it-looked-like-the-flakes-were/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Most of the men and women who vote in Congress each year to continue subsidies have taken campaign donations from big energy companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/most-of-the-men-and-women-who-vote-in-congress-each-year-to-continue/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“I’ve sat behind a microphone and listened for decades as Americans learned to stop talking with each other and start shouting instead. 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 Bits quotes > [ Brad \[Dourif\] would tell himself that he was not intentionally trying to mimic Jack Nicholson in any way. I think that actually bothers him… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-kirschner/brad-dourif-would-tell-himself-that-he-was-not-intentionally-trying/) [David Kirschner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-kirschner/) > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I became a bit of a teacher's pet, and it became known in the school by both faculty and students that I really excelled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-smith/i-became-a-bit-of-a-teacher-s-pet-and-it-became-known-in-the-school/) [Paul Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-smith/) > [The happy medium is television. And if you find a good suitor, you can do it for years. With movies, you roll the dice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-campbell/the-happy-medium-is-television-and-if-you-find-a-good-suitor-you-can/) [Bruce Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-campbell/) > [If I had my brothers I think with just a little bit of the correct marketing, I'd like to be almost exclusively in small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/if-i-had-my-brothers-i-think-with-just-a-little-bit-of-the-correct/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. It might be two seconds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/talented-people-can-predict-with-great-accuracy-what-s-about-to/) [Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/) > [He referred to me as an 'insufferable puffed-up prat'. This is a bit rich coming from a man who actually married his own mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-morrissey/he-referred-to-me-as-an-insufferable-puffed-up-prat-this-is-a-bit/) [Steven Morrissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-morrissey/) > [It won't do you a bit of good to know everything if you don't do anything with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-fitzhugh/it-won-t-do-you-a-bit-of-good-to-know-everything-if-you-don-t-do/) [Louise Fitzhugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-fitzhugh/) > [I was told I had brain damage. I always knew it was an unfair label. Now I have a clearer understanding of what's wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-boyle/i-was-told-i-had-brain-damage-i-always-knew-it-was-an-unfair-label/) [Susan Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-boyle/) > [I think that's the beauty of the current setup, is that Legends is meant to be a bit of a revolving door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wentworth-miller/i-think-that-s-the-beauty-of-the-current-setup-is-that-legends-is/) [Wentworth Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wentworth-miller/) > [We, as pop stars, are people not androids. We’ve got views. I’ve got opinions and I don’t see why I shouldn’t use a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-meddows-taylor/we-as-pop-stars-are-people-not-androids-we-ve-got-views-i-ve-got/) [Roger Meddows Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-meddows-taylor/) > [In terms of style, too, I think I've been working with a somewhat limited -- although intentionally limited -- set of tools. So I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/in-terms-of-style-too-i-think-i-ve-been-working-with-a-somewhat/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [ Donald Trump has opened \[ politically correct enforcement\] up wide. He's made a very bold statement and he's backed it back just a little… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/donald-trump-has-opened-politically-correct-enforcement-up-wide-he-s/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [When my name started popping up I was quite irritated and a little bit in shock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-snow/when-my-name-started-popping-up-i-was-quite-irritated-and-a-little/) [Michael Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-snow/) > [Don't get divorced after your first argument! I have a lot of friends that have one fight and that's it, they get divorced. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ripa/don-t-get-divorced-after-your-first-argument-i-have-a-lot-of-friends/) [Kelly Ripa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ripa/) [Browse all 5,709 Bits quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bits/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What we're talking about is the endless, gullible elevation of necessary levels of comfort and status and everything else at the complete expense of all around us. 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