--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once land gets in a state, once it begins…" description: "\"“Once land gets in a state, once it begins to deteriorate, it is hard to reverse the process. Land falls sick just like people—that's the whole tragedy..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e3/brian-w-aldiss-38447_degradation_once-land-gets-in-a-state-once-it-begins_1860331.jpg" --- # Once land gets in a state, once it begins to deteriorate… ![“Once land gets in a state, once it begins to deteriorate, it is hard to reverse the process. Land falls sick just like people—that's the whole tragedy of our time.” quote by Brian W. Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e3/brian-w-aldiss-38447_degradation_once-land-gets-in-a-state-once-it-begins_1860331.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e3/brian-w-aldiss-38447_degradation_once-land-gets-in-a-state-once-it-begins_1860331.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e3/brian-w-aldiss-38447_degradation_once-land-gets-in-a-state-once-it-begins_1860331.jpg) > ““Once land gets in a state, once it begins to deteriorate, it is hard to reverse the process. Land falls sick just like people—that's the whole tragedy of our time.”” [Brian W. Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-w-aldiss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Land degradation is hard to reverse, mirroring human illness and representing a major modern tragedy. **In simple terms:** Land damage is hard to fix and is a serious problem. Key Takeaway Act to protect and restore ecosystems. Themes environment tragedy conservation Mood concerned urgent Type warning call to action When to use this quote - urban planning - agriculture - policy making - community activism Key Concepts ecology systems thinking sustainability Questions to Reflect On - What actions can individuals take to slow land decline? - How can policy incentivize large‑scale restoration? A Different Perspective Reversing damage often requires massive, coordinated effort and resources. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Begins Deteriorate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/begins-deteriorate-2500187/) [Degradation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degradation/) [Deteriorate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deteriorate/) [Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land/) [Land Falls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land-falls-2500188/) [Land Gets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land-gets-2500186/) [Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscape/) [Restoration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/restoration/) [Sickness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sickness/) ## Related quotes > [Any society which is not improving is deteriorating, and the more so the closer and more familiar it is. Even a really superior man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/any-society-which-is-not-improving-is-deteriorating-and-the-more-so/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [“Happiness begins to deteriorate once it is named.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-manguso/happiness-begins-to-deteriorate-once-it-is-named/) [Sarah Manguso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-manguso/) > [I think that a man should not live beyond the age when he begins to deteriorate, when the flame that lighted the brightest moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fidel-castro/i-think-that-a-man-should-not-live-beyond-the-age-when-he-begins-to/) [Fidel Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fidel-castro/) > [The land gets inside of us; and we must decide one way or another what this means, what we will do about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-l-pez/the-land-gets-inside-of-us-and-we-must-decide-one-way-or-another-what/) [Barry Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-l-pez/) > [Restoration ecology is experimental science, a science of love and altruism. In its attempts to reverse the processes of ecosystem degradation it runs exactly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-mills/restoration-ecology-is-experimental-science-a-science-of-love-and/) [Stephanie Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-mills/) > [You don't need to deteriorate with advancing age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiane-northrup/you-don-t-need-to-deteriorate-with-advancing-age/) [Christiane Northrup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiane-northrup/) > [I have deliberately kept singing because I have to at my age. If I stopped for even a year my voice would slowly deteriorate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-daltrey/i-have-deliberately-kept-singing-because-i-have-to-at-my-age-if-i/) [Roger Daltrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-daltrey/) > [If the use of leisure time is confined to looking at TV for a few extra hours every day, we will deteriorate as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/if-the-use-of-leisure-time-is-confined-to-looking-at-tv-for-a-few/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [Love yourself. Love your soul and let go of the past. Past pain is keeping you in pain. You don't have to deteriorate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/love-yourself-love-your-soul-and-let-go-of-the-past-past-pain-is/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [Be patient. Your skin took a while to deteriorate. Give it some time to reflect a calmer inner state. As one of my friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-c-scott/be-patient-your-skin-took-a-while-to-deteriorate-give-it-some-time-to/) [Jess C Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-c-scott/) > [Without such inspiration, we would rapidly deteriorate and finally perish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/without-such-inspiration-we-would-rapidly-deteriorate-and-finally/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [“If you deteriorate to a certain point…we should consider placing you on the transplant list.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-brown/if-you-deteriorate-to-a-certain-point-we-should-consider-placing-you/) [Natasha Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-brown/) > [With all of relationships, once a common bond is no longer present, the relationship will tend to deteriorate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-williams/with-all-of-relationships-once-a-common-bond-is-no-longer-present-the/) [Craig Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-williams/) > [We all live inside bodies that will deteriorate. But when you look at human beings, they're capable of very decent things: love, loyalty. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/we-all-live-inside-bodies-that-will-deteriorate-but-when-you-look-at/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [I deteriorate. I might tell you something one day and then something else another day. You fold in on yourself and that's why this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willis-earl-beal/i-deteriorate-i-might-tell-you-something-one-day-and-then-something/) [Willis Earl Beal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willis-earl-beal/) ## More by Brian W. Aldiss > [“Whatever terrific events may inform our lives, it always comes to that in the end; we just want to lie down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-w-aldiss/whatever-terrific-events-may-inform-our-lives-it-always-comes-to-that/) [Brian W. Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-w-aldiss/) > [“An overcrowded world is the ideal place in which to be lonely.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-w-aldiss/an-overcrowded-world-is-the-ideal-place-in-which-to-be-lonely/) [Brian W. Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-w-aldiss/) > [“Life was a pleasure; he looked back at its moments, many of them as much shrouded in mist as the opposite bank of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-w-aldiss/life-was-a-pleasure-he-looked-back-at-its-moments-many-of-them-as/) [Brian W. Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-w-aldiss/) > [“This shall be home, where danger was my cradle, and all we have learned will guard us!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-w-aldiss/this-shall-be-home-where-danger-was-my-cradle-and-all-we-have-learned/) [Brian W. Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-w-aldiss/) > [“Perhaps that had been one of the ineradicable faults of mankind - for even a convinced atheist had to admit there were faults -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-w-aldiss/perhaps-that-had-been-one-of-the-ineradicable-faults-of-mankind-for/) [Brian W. Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-w-aldiss/) > [“It's a funny thing in my job: you remain perpetually lonely in a world where loneliness is the rarest commodity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-w-aldiss/it-s-a-funny-thing-in-my-job-you-remain-perpetually-lonely-in-a-world/) [Brian W. Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-w-aldiss/) > [“Life on the big slope was endurable, and sometimes more than just endurable, for the human spirit was a genius for making mountains out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-w-aldiss/life-on-the-big-slope-was-endurable-and-sometimes-more-than-just/) [Brian W. Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-w-aldiss/) > [“This is how Yuli, son of Alehaw, came to a place called Oldorando, where his descendants flourished in the better days that were to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-w-aldiss/this-is-how-yuli-son-of-alehaw-came-to-a-place-called-oldorando-where/) [Brian W. Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-w-aldiss/) > [“To qualify as a Seeker, it was necessary to show a high serendipity factor. In my experimental behaviour pool as a child, I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-w-aldiss/to-qualify-as-a-seeker-it-was-necessary-to-show-a-high-serendipity/) [Brian W. Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-w-aldiss/) [Explore all 10 Brian W. Aldiss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-w-aldiss/) ## More Degradation quotes > [All our efforts to defeat poverty and pursue sustainable development will be in vain if environmental degradation and natural resource depletion continue unabated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/all-our-efforts-to-defeat-poverty-and-pursue-sustainable-development/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [The global industrial economy is the engine for massive environmental degradation and massive human (and nonhuman) impoverishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/the-global-industrial-economy-is-the-engine-for-massive-environmental/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [Poverty, for me, is synonymous with degradation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/poverty-for-me-is-synonymous-with-degradation/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [We must begin by acknowledging that there is a complete absence of two things in Indian Society. One of these is equality. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-r-ambedkar/we-must-begin-by-acknowledging-that-there-is-a-complete-absence-of/) [B. R. Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-r-ambedkar/) > [In an age of interdependence, global citizenship - based on trust and sense of shared responsibility - is a crucial pillar of progress. At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/in-an-age-of-interdependence-global-citizenship-based-on-trust-and/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [If all boys could be made to know that with every breath of cigarette smoke they inhale imbecility and exhale manhood ... and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hudson-maxim/if-all-boys-could-be-made-to-know-that-with-every-breath-of-cigarette/) [Hudson Maxim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hudson-maxim/) > [If the world suffers from mental deterioration or from moral degradation, then something goes wrong at the very root of civilization or culture. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru/if-the-world-suffers-from-mental-deterioration-or-from-moral/) [Jawaharlal Nehru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jawaharlal-nehru/) > [As a southerner born after the epic events of the civil rights movement, I've always wondered how on earth people of good will could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-meacham/as-a-southerner-born-after-the-epic-events-of-the-civil-rights/) [Jon Meacham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-meacham/) > [It's a terrible cruelty of predatory capitalism: both parents now have to work. A family has to have two incomes in order to buy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/it-s-a-terrible-cruelty-of-predatory-capitalism-both-parents-now-have/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Environmental degradation, overpopulation, refugees, narcotics, terrorism, world crime movements, and organized crime are worldwide problems that don't stop at a nation's borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-christopher/environmental-degradation-overpopulation-refugees-narcotics-terrorism/) [Warren Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-christopher/) > [What is it in absinthe that makes it a separate cult? The effects of its abuse are totally distinct from those of other stimulants.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/what-is-it-in-absinthe-that-makes-it-a-separate-cult-the-effects-of/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Restoration ecology is experimental science, a science of love and altruism. In its attempts to reverse the processes of ecosystem degradation it runs exactly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-mills/restoration-ecology-is-experimental-science-a-science-of-love-and/) [Stephanie Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-mills/) > [Well, for starters, we have to do more to create demand for new technologies that can reduce our dependence on foreign oil and environmental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-boehlert/well-for-starters-we-have-to-do-more-to-create-demand-for-new/) [Sherwood Boehlert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-boehlert/) > [When we hit a nail with a hammer the whole of the shock received by the large head of the nail passes into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/when-we-hit-a-nail-with-a-hammer-the-whole-of-the-shock-received-by/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) [Browse all 309 Degradation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degradation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Once land gets in a state, once it begins to deteriorate, it is hard to reverse the process. 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