--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I worry that even well-intentioned…" description: "\"I worry that even well-intentioned attempts to \"improve nature\" (say by reducing suffering) will make things worse even in their own terms.\" — Dale Jam..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ca/dale-jamieson-4075_nature_i-worry-that-even-well-intentioned-attem_2389460.jpg" --- # I worry that even well-intentioned attempts to "improve… ![“I worry that even well-intentioned attempts to "improve nature" (say by reducing suffering) will make things worse even in their own terms.” quote by Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ca/dale-jamieson-4075_nature_i-worry-that-even-well-intentioned-attem_2389460.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ca/dale-jamieson-4075_nature_i-worry-that-even-well-intentioned-attem_2389460.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ca/dale-jamieson-4075_nature_i-worry-that-even-well-intentioned-attem_2389460.jpg) > “I worry that even well-intentioned attempts to "improve nature" (say by reducing suffering) will make things worse even in their own terms.” [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Efforts to reduce suffering may unintentionally worsen conditions for those they aim to help, due to complex moral trade‑offs. **In simple terms:** Good intentions can backfire. Key Takeaway Consider unintended consequences. Themes ethics environment consequences Mood cautious reflective Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - policy design - animal welfare - climate mitigation - philanthropy Key Concepts utilitarianism risk assessment Questions to Reflect On - How can we anticipate negative side‑effects? - What safeguards are needed? A Different Perspective Complex systems may resist simple solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) ## Related quotes > [Anybody who witnesses the suffering of animals and has a glimmer of hope of reducing that suffering can't take the position that it's all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/anybody-who-witnesses-the-suffering-of-animals-and-has-a-glimmer-of/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [Without ducking responsibility, what's wrong with medicine today is that it is predicated on providing treatment, not on reducing suffering. Not on solving problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vilayanur-s-ramachandran/without-ducking-responsibility-what-s-wrong-with-medicine-today-is/) [Vilayanur S. Ramachandran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vilayanur-s-ramachandran/) > [The belief that we can manage the Earth and improve on Nature is probably the ultimate expression of human conceit, but it has deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-dubos/the-belief-that-we-can-manage-the-earth-and-improve-on-nature-is/) [Rene Dubos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-dubos/) > [Worrying about the things is only waste of time. As it doesn't change anything instead it occupies our mind n make the things worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/worrying-about-the-things-is-only-waste-of-time-as-it-doesn-t-change/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [Some philosophers have begun writing sympathetically about predator elimination as a way of reducing animal suffering. From an environmental perspective this is somewhere between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/some-philosophers-have-begun-writing-sympathetically-about-predator/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [ Fundamental \[tax\] reform almost always runs the risk of making things worse. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-rostenkowski/fundamental-tax-reform-almost-always-runs-the-risk-of-making-things/) Dan Rostenkowski > [Everything in life comes within time, if you rush things just because you feel the need/want something only makes things worse in the long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everything-in-life-comes-within-time-if-you-rush-things-just-because/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I go through life with a smile because I know things can be worse than they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-manning/i-go-through-life-with-a-smile-because-i-know-things-can-be-worse/) [Eli Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-manning/) > [Life seems sadly mishandled by humans, as if it's all too much for them - they spend so much time and energy hurting each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-leunig/life-seems-sadly-mishandled-by-humans-as-if-it-s-all-too-much-for/) [Michael Leunig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-leunig/) > [An optimist in Canada is someone who think things could be worse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/preston-manning/an-optimist-in-canada-is-someone-who-think-things-could-be-worse/) [Preston Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/preston-manning/) > [There are a lot of things worse to be than the 'Pharrell girl.' I hope that'll wear off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-rogers/there-are-a-lot-of-things-worse-to-be-than-the-pharrell-girl-i-hope/) [Maggie Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-rogers/) > [Dont sweat the small stuff. At the end of the day we all have so much to be thankful for. Things can be so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dont-sweat-the-small-stuff-at-the-end-of-the-day-we-all-have-so-much/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sure it's bad when someone is a Jerk to you... But things could be worse... You could be that Jerk...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sure-it-s-bad-when-someone-is-a-jerk-to-you-but-things-could-be-worse/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Being negative about everything doesn't change anything & in my opinion it only makes things worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-negative-about-everything-doesn-t-change-anything-in-my-opinion/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Things can always get worse, but only quitters quit!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ultra-maniac-nina-sakura/things-can-always-get-worse-but-only-quitters-quit/) Ultra Maniac Nina Sakura ## More by Dale Jamieson > [People with long memories and a vivid sense of the past have an immediate understanding of politicians like Donald Trump. They are not surprised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/people-with-long-memories-and-a-vivid-sense-of-the-past-have-an/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [On my reading of history people who want to bring us the best are usually the people we ought to be afraid of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/on-my-reading-of-history-people-who-want-to-bring-us-the-best-are/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [We know the "great men" and a handful of heavily cited papers in our specialization. When there is a historical frame around a paper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/we-know-the-great-men-and-a-handful-of-heavily-cited-papers-in-our/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [The very essence of civilized culture is that we deliberately institute, in advance of the happening of various contingencies and emergencies of life, devices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/the-very-essence-of-civilized-culture-is-that-we-deliberately/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [I see a lot of individual action when it comes to environmental questions really as a form of politics as a way of communicating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/i-see-a-lot-of-individual-action-when-it-comes-to-environmental/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [Moral revolutions are typically seen retrospectively. Prospectively, the revolutionaries tend to look like crazy people, and sometimes they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/moral-revolutions-are-typically-seen-retrospectively-prospectively/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [In this era of globalization we are witnessing struggles within individual states about what their identity and interests consist in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/in-this-era-of-globalization-we-are-witnessing-struggles-within/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [You can't imagine anything like nature as we know it without predators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/you-can-t-imagine-anything-like-nature-as-we-know-it-without-predators/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [Climate change involves fundamental choices about how we want to live and what kind of world we want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/climate-change-involves-fundamental-choices-about-how-we-want-to-live/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [Acts are right in virtue of the goodness of their consequences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/acts-are-right-in-virtue-of-the-goodness-of-their-consequences/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [Our traditional systems of decision-making are just not up to preventing changes in fundamental earth systems that are driven by a constant barrage of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/our-traditional-systems-of-decision-making-are-just-not-up-to/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [One of the real dangers of our time is people's indifference to history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/one-of-the-real-dangers-of-our-time-is-people-s-indifference-to/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [We're not good at noticing slow, steady changes in our environments, our senses are not very acute compared to those of many animals, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/we-re-not-good-at-noticing-slow-steady-changes-in-our-environments/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [Philosophers are smart, analytical, and skeptical. For these reasons they are relatively unbiased.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/philosophers-are-smart-analytical-and-skeptical-for-these-reasons/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [The millennium development goals are important, both morally and economically, because much of the world's population maybe is as much as a third of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/the-millennium-development-goals-are-important-both-morally-and/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) [Explore all 116 Dale Jamieson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) ## More Nature quotes > [It is indeed a surprising and fortunate fact that nature can be expressed by relatively low-order mathematical functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-carnap/it-is-indeed-a-surprising-and-fortunate-fact-that-nature-can-be/) [Rudolf Carnap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-carnap/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Borrow trouble for yourself, if that's your nature, but don't lend it to your neighbours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/borrow-trouble-for-yourself-if-that-s-your-nature-but-don-t-lend-it/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“Men mistook measurement for understanding. And they always had to put themselves at the center of everything. That was their greatest conceit. The earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/men-mistook-measurement-for-understanding-and-they-always-had-to-put/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“She was, he knew- and had known very early, he supposed- one of those rare and always lovely humans whose moral nature was so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-williams/she-was-he-knew-and-had-known-very-early-he-supposed-one-of-those/) [John Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-williams/) > [“When the water covers the earth the sun will vanish the darkess and the cold will come.When the last dragon and the last Elf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silvana-de-mari/when-the-water-covers-the-earth-the-sun-will-vanish-the-darkess-and/) [Silvana de Mari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silvana-de-mari/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [“It is not the force of the wind, but the depth of the roots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/it-is-not-the-force-of-the-wind-but-the-depth-of-the-roots/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) [Browse all 47,383 Nature quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I worry that even well-intentioned attempts to \"improve nature\" (say by reducing suffering) will make things worse even in their own terms.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dale Jamieson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/i-worry-that-even-well-intentioned-attempts-to-improve-nature-say-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Nature" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/i-worry-that-even-well-intentioned-attempts-to-improve-nature-say-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ca/dale-jamieson-4075_nature_i-worry-that-even-well-intentioned-attem_2389460.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ca/dale-jamieson-4075_nature_i-worry-that-even-well-intentioned-attem_2389460.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ca/dale-jamieson-4075_nature_i-worry-that-even-well-intentioned-attem_2389460.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I worry that even well-intentioned attempts to \"improve nature\" (say by reducing suffering) will make things…” — Dale Jamieson", "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": "Dale Jamieson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I worry that even well-intentioned attempts...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/i-worry-that-even-well-intentioned-attempts-to-improve-nature-say-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/i-worry-that-even-well-intentioned-attempts-to-improve-nature-say-by/#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 } } ] } ```