--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hopefully we don’t end up as someone…" description: "\"“Hopefully we don’t end up as someone else’s dinner.” For a moment I feel a stab of remorse for the lamb: born into an infinite, hostile universe and d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/charles-stross-896_lamb_hopefully-we-don-t-end-up-as-someone-els_802083.png" --- # Hopefully we don’t end up as someone else’s dinner.” For a… ![“Hopefully we don’t end up as someone else’s dinner.” For a moment I feel a stab of remorse for the lamb: born into an infinite, hostile universe and destined from birth to be nothing more than fodder for uncaring alien intelligences vaster by far than it can comprehend. “’Scuse me, I’m having a…” quote by Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/charles-stross-896_lamb_hopefully-we-don-t-end-up-as-someone-els_802083.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/charles-stross-896_lamb_hopefully-we-don-t-end-up-as-someone-els_802083.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/charles-stross-896_lamb_hopefully-we-don-t-end-up-as-someone-els_802083.png) > ““Hopefully we don’t end up as someone else’s dinner.” For a moment I feel a stab of remorse for the lamb: born into an infinite, hostile universe and destined from birth to be nothing more than fodder for uncaring alien intelligences vaster by far than it can comprehend. “’Scuse me, I’m having a Heather Mills moment here.” Mo”” [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) ## 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 reflects existential dread about being consumed by vast, indifferent forces, using a lamb as a metaphor for vulnerability. **In simple terms:** Fear of being used by larger powers. Key Takeaway Recognize and confront feelings of powerlessness. Themes existential vulnerability powerlessness Mood anxious reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal reflection - science fiction writing - philosophical discussion Key Concepts cosmic indifference metaphor self awareness Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope with feeling insignificant? - What actions restore agency? A Different Perspective It may overstate the agency of abstract forces. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Remorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remorse/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [On Thanksgiving Day, all over America, families sit down to dinner at the same moment - halftime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/on-thanksgiving-day-all-over-america-families-sit-down-to-dinner-at/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Whether men are pleased or not, we will, we must, worship the Lamb that was slain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-newton/whether-men-are-pleased-or-not-we-will-we-must-worship-the-lamb-that/) [John Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-newton/) > [But she'd wanted him there and there he was. A lamb ready for slaughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-von-ziegesar/but-she-d-wanted-him-there-and-there-he-was-a-lamb-ready-for-slaughter/) [Cecily von Ziegesar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-von-ziegesar/) > [“The green-eyed angel came in less than a half hour and fell docile as a lamb into my arms. We kissed and caressed, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/the-green-eyed-angel-came-in-less-than-a-half-hour-and-fell-docile-as/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [To rise with the lark, and go to bed with the lamb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-breton/to-rise-with-the-lark-and-go-to-bed-with-the-lamb/) [Nicholas Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-breton/) > [I learned to cook in self-defense. My wife doesn't know what a kitchen is. In the first month of our marriage, she broiled lamb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-king/i-learned-to-cook-in-self-defense-my-wife-doesn-t-know-what-a-kitchen/) [Alan King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-king/) > [I'm a little lamb who's lost in the wood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-gershwin/i-m-a-little-lamb-who-s-lost-in-the-wood/) [Ira Gershwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-gershwin/) > [“Did he who made the lamb make thee?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/did-he-who-made-the-lamb-make-thee/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [“The lamb came forth at last, draggled and spindly, black as a dead tree in the rain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-arden/the-lamb-came-forth-at-last-draggled-and-spindly-black-as-a-dead-tree/) [Katherine Arden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-arden/) > [“WHAT IS 'THE LAMB'? WHY IS 'THE TYGER' THEN?-WILLIAM ... 2 Dec 2013 ... Poetry By: Rituparna Ray Chaudhuri ... after year, lay down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rituparna-ray-chaudhuri/what-is-the-lamb-why-is-the-tyger-then-william-2-dec-2013-poetry-by/) Rituparna Ray Chaudhuri > [“Who can walk in the shoes of the sacrifice of the Lamb,the Lord Jesus Christ?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/who-can-walk-in-the-shoes-of-the-sacrifice-of-the-lamb-the-lord-jesus/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I gave up meat when I was 18, and it was an ethical decision. I loved the taste, and went on holiday to Greece,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-roberts/i-gave-up-meat-when-i-was-18-and-it-was-an-ethical-decision-i-loved/) [Alice Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-roberts/) > [He is indeed the 'Lamb.' There is nothing harsh or haughty or retaliative about Him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-sidlow-baxter/he-is-indeed-the-lamb-there-is-nothing-harsh-or-haughty-or/) [J. Sidlow Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-sidlow-baxter/) > [I took one guitar lesson, and they wanted me to play 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' or 'Michael Row the Boat Ashore,' and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-nielsen/i-took-one-guitar-lesson-and-they-wanted-me-to-play-mary-had-a-little/) [Rick Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-nielsen/) > [“And when the Lamb opened the seventh seal, silence coverd the sky”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-when-the-lamb-opened-the-seventh-seal-silence-coverd-the-sky/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Charles Stross > [We are Bay Aryans from Berkeley: prepare to be reengineered in an attractive range of color schemes for your safety and comfort!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/we-are-bay-aryans-from-berkeley-prepare-to-be-reengineered-in-an/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“Shut up. Stand up. Put this on. That’s right . . . if you were the kind of man who found it easy to do that kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/shut-up-stand-up-put-this-on-that-s-right-if-you-were-the-kind-of-man/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [Generating ideas isn't some mystical talent that you have to be born with: it's a skill you can develop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/generating-ideas-isn-t-some-mystical-talent-that-you-have-to-be-born/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [Any replacement to the current copyright position (life plus 70 years) needs to have an answer lined up for this, and similar, messy edge cases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/any-replacement-to-the-current-copyright-position-life-plus-70-years/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [Time is a corrosive fluid, dissolving motivation, destroying novelty, and leaching the joy from life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/time-is-a-corrosive-fluid-dissolving-motivation-destroying-novelty/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“- Toma un puro, Sherlock. - Lo siento; sólo echo humo cuando me enchufan a la red eléctrica.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/toma-un-puro-sherlock-lo-siento-s-lo-echo-humo-cuando-me-enchufan-a/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [I have no policy, for or against: only a personal style. Which is to say, I use them when I think it's appropriate to;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/i-have-no-policy-for-or-against-only-a-personal-style-which-is-to-say/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“To boldly go where no uploaded metahuman colony has gone before”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/to-boldly-go-where-no-uploaded-metahuman-colony-has-gone-before/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [I was raised thinking that moral and ethical standards are universals that apply equally to everyone. And these values aren't easily compatible with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/i-was-raised-thinking-that-moral-and-ethical-standards-are-universals/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [I don't like Amazon (wearing my author hat, not my customer hat).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/i-don-t-like-amazon-wearing-my-author-hat-not-my-customer-hat/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“Some say the Internet is for porn but you know that in truth the Internet is for spam.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/some-say-the-internet-is-for-porn-but-you-know-that-in-truth-the/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [If I forget, then it might as well never have happened. Memory is liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/if-i-forget-then-it-might-as-well-never-have-happened-memory-is/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“If he wakes the ancient sleeping horrors I am going to have to brief the private secretary and the Joint Intelligence Oversight Committee so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/if-he-wakes-the-ancient-sleeping-horrors-i-am-going-to-have-to-brief/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“Crawling eldritch horrors don’t get planning permission unless they’re Trump’s hairpiece.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/crawling-eldritch-horrors-don-t-get-planning-permission-unless-they/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“A historian who works for a bank: That’s not the most likely background for someone who capers around the cosmos having adventures, is it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/a-historian-who-works-for-a-bank-that-s-not-the-most-likely/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) [Explore all 331 Charles Stross quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) ## More Lamb quotes > [“And when the Lamb opened the seventh seal, silence coverd the sky”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-when-the-lamb-opened-the-seventh-seal-silence-coverd-the-sky/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I took one guitar lesson, and they wanted me to play 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' or 'Michael Row the Boat Ashore,' and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-nielsen/i-took-one-guitar-lesson-and-they-wanted-me-to-play-mary-had-a-little/) [Rick Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-nielsen/) > [He is indeed the 'Lamb.' There is nothing harsh or haughty or retaliative about Him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-sidlow-baxter/he-is-indeed-the-lamb-there-is-nothing-harsh-or-haughty-or/) [J. Sidlow Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-sidlow-baxter/) > [I gave up meat when I was 18, and it was an ethical decision. I loved the taste, and went on holiday to Greece,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-roberts/i-gave-up-meat-when-i-was-18-and-it-was-an-ethical-decision-i-loved/) [Alice Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-roberts/) > [“Who can walk in the shoes of the sacrifice of the Lamb,the Lord Jesus Christ?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/who-can-walk-in-the-shoes-of-the-sacrifice-of-the-lamb-the-lord-jesus/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“WHAT IS 'THE LAMB'? WHY IS 'THE TYGER' THEN?-WILLIAM ... 2 Dec 2013 ... Poetry By: Rituparna Ray Chaudhuri ... after year, lay down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rituparna-ray-chaudhuri/what-is-the-lamb-why-is-the-tyger-then-william-2-dec-2013-poetry-by/) Rituparna Ray Chaudhuri > [“The lamb came forth at last, draggled and spindly, black as a dead tree in the rain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-arden/the-lamb-came-forth-at-last-draggled-and-spindly-black-as-a-dead-tree/) [Katherine Arden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-arden/) > [“Did he who made the lamb make thee?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/did-he-who-made-the-lamb-make-thee/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [I'm a little lamb who's lost in the wood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-gershwin/i-m-a-little-lamb-who-s-lost-in-the-wood/) [Ira Gershwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-gershwin/) > [I learned to cook in self-defense. My wife doesn't know what a kitchen is. In the first month of our marriage, she broiled lamb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-king/i-learned-to-cook-in-self-defense-my-wife-doesn-t-know-what-a-kitchen/) [Alan King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-king/) > [To rise with the lark, and go to bed with the lamb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-breton/to-rise-with-the-lark-and-go-to-bed-with-the-lamb/) [Nicholas Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-breton/) > [“The green-eyed angel came in less than a half hour and fell docile as a lamb into my arms. We kissed and caressed, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/the-green-eyed-angel-came-in-less-than-a-half-hour-and-fell-docile-as/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [But she'd wanted him there and there he was. A lamb ready for slaughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-von-ziegesar/but-she-d-wanted-him-there-and-there-he-was-a-lamb-ready-for-slaughter/) [Cecily von Ziegesar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-von-ziegesar/) > [Whether men are pleased or not, we will, we must, worship the Lamb that was slain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-newton/whether-men-are-pleased-or-not-we-will-we-must-worship-the-lamb-that/) [John Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-newton/) > [So The Lion Fell In Love With The Lamb... What A Stupid Lamb. What A Sick, Masochistic Lion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-the-lion-fell-in-love-with-the-lamb-what-a-stupid-lamb-what-a-sick/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 177 Lamb quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Hopefully we don’t end up as someone else’s dinner.” For a moment I feel a stab of remorse for the lamb: born into an infinite, hostile universe and destined from birth to be nothing more than fodder for uncaring alien intelligences vaster by far than it can comprehend. “’Scuse me, I’m having a Heather Mills moment here.” Mo”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Stross" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/hopefully-we-don-t-end-up-as-someone-else-s-dinner-for-a-moment-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lamb" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/hopefully-we-don-t-end-up-as-someone-else-s-dinner-for-a-moment-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/charles-stross-896_lamb_hopefully-we-don-t-end-up-as-someone-els_802083.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/charles-stross-896_lamb_hopefully-we-don-t-end-up-as-someone-els_802083.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/charles-stross-896_lamb_hopefully-we-don-t-end-up-as-someone-els_802083.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Hopefully we don’t end up as someone else’s dinner.” For a moment I feel a stab of remorse for the lamb…” — Charles Stross", "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": "Charles Stross", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Hopefully we don’t end up as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/hopefully-we-don-t-end-up-as-someone-else-s-dinner-for-a-moment-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/hopefully-we-don-t-end-up-as-someone-else-s-dinner-for-a-moment-i/#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 } } ] } ```