--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Is it simply quixotic to hope to preserve…" description: "\"“Is it simply quixotic to hope to preserve human civilization from either the effects of burning fossil fuels or preparing for nuclear war? As Martin L..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60d/daniel-ellsberg-11718_fossil-fuel_is-it-simply-quixotic-to-hope-to-preserv_2615176.jpg" --- # Is it simply quixotic to hope to preserve human… ![“Is it simply quixotic to hope to preserve human civilization from either the effects of burning fossil fuels or preparing for nuclear war? As Martin Luther King Jr. warned us,328 one year to the day before his death, “There is such a thing as being too late.” In challenging us on April 4, 1967, to…” quote by Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60d/daniel-ellsberg-11718_fossil-fuel_is-it-simply-quixotic-to-hope-to-preserv_2615176.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60d/daniel-ellsberg-11718_fossil-fuel_is-it-simply-quixotic-to-hope-to-preserv_2615176.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60d/daniel-ellsberg-11718_fossil-fuel_is-it-simply-quixotic-to-hope-to-preserv_2615176.jpg) > ““Is it simply quixotic to hope to preserve human civilization from either the effects of burning fossil fuels or preparing for nuclear war? As Martin Luther King Jr. warned us,328 one year to the day before his death, “There is such a thing as being too late.” In challenging us on April 4, 1967, to recognize “the fierce urgency of now” he was speaking of the “madness of Vietnam,” but he also alluded on that same occasion to nuclear weapons and to the even larger madness that has been the subject of this book: “We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation.” He went on: We must move past indecision to action.… If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight. … Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world.”” [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Urgent collective action is needed to avert catastrophic environmental and nuclear threats, lest humanity face irreversible ruin. **In simple terms:** Act now to prevent disaster. Key Takeaway Prioritize decisive, compassionate action. Themes environment nuclear risk activism urgency morality Mood determined urgent hopeful Type call to action inspirational When to use this quote - policy advocacy - community organizing - education campaigns - personal lifestyle changes Key Concepts existential risk nonviolent resistance collective responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What immediate steps can you take to influence policy? - How can you inspire others to act now? A Different Perspective Overcoming entrenched political and economic interests is extremely difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fossil fuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossil-fuel/) [Human civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-civilization/) [Nonviolent Coexistence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonviolent-coexistence-1744808/) [Nuclear war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear-war/) [Nuclear weapons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear-weapons/) [Past Indecision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-indecision-1444138/) [Power Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-compassion-742062/) [Quixotic Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quixotic-hope-2061807/) [Today Nonviolent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today-nonviolent-1744809/) [Too late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-late/) ## Related quotes > [“We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. We must move past indecision to action...If we do not act, we shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-1967/we-still-have-a-choice-today-nonviolent-coexistence-or-violent-co/) [Martin Luther King Jr. 1967](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-1967/) > [We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. This may well be mankind's last chance to choose between chaos and community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-still-have-a-choice-today-nonviolent-coexistence-or-violent-co-2/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and for justice throughout the developing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-must-move-past-indecision-to-action-we-must-find-new-ways-to-speak/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“Compassion is a beautiful grace that releases hate and fearful emotions. Through the power of compassion, when put in delicate circumstances with dysfunctional human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dines/compassion-is-a-beautiful-grace-that-releases-hate-and-fearful/) [Christopher Dines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dines/) > [Someone who has experienced trauma also has gifts to offer all of us - in their depth, their knowledge of our universal vulnerability, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/someone-who-has-experienced-trauma-also-has-gifts-to-offer-all-of-us/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) > [As we heal, the Earth Mother feels our joy. We are like cells in and on her body. The power of love, the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-sams/as-we-heal-the-earth-mother-feels-our-joy-we-are-like-cells-in-and-on/) [Jamie Sams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-sams/) > [God is everywhere or nowhere, the father of all people or of none, concerned about everything or nothing. Only in His presence shall we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/god-is-everywhere-or-nowhere-the-father-of-all-people-or-of-none/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [Compassion is the foundation of everything positive, everything good. If you carry the power of compassion to the marketplace and the dinner table, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rue-mcclanahan/compassion-is-the-foundation-of-everything-positive-everything-good/) [Rue McClanahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rue-mcclanahan/) > [Knowledge without wisdom, is power without compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deri-isaac/knowledge-without-wisdom-is-power-without-compassion/) [Deri Isaac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deri-isaac/) > [...with the power of compassion there is nothing that cannot be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/with-the-power-of-compassion-there-is-nothing-that-cannot-be/) [Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/) > [Our work has only begun. In our time we have an historic opportunity to shape a global balance of power that favors freedom and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/condoleezza-rice/our-work-has-only-begun-in-our-time-we-have-an-historic-opportunity/) [Condoleezza Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/condoleezza-rice/) > [I use the word power broadly. Even more important than military and economic power is the power of ideas, the power of compassion, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/condoleezza-rice/i-use-the-word-power-broadly-even-more-important-than-military-and/) [Condoleezza Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/condoleezza-rice/) > [“There are four key pillars holding you up that you can re-ground yourself to. Your responsibility. Your power. Your Compassion. And your sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-mildon/there-are-four-key-pillars-holding-you-up-that-you-can-re-ground/) [Emma Mildon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-mildon/) > [“And power without compassion is the worst kind of evil there is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-j-patten/and-power-without-compassion-is-the-worst-kind-of-evil-there-is/) [E.J. Patten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-j-patten/) > [The essence of the divine being is not power but compassion and love. And it's this love, and this love only, that whispers to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-fraser/the-essence-of-the-divine-being-is-not-power-but-compassion-and-love/) [Giles Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-fraser/) ## More by Daniel Ellsberg > [If monarchy is corrupting - and it is - wait till you see what overt empire does to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/if-monarchy-is-corrupting-and-it-is-wait-till-you-see-what-overt/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [There are some things that should not be leaked without authorization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/there-are-some-things-that-should-not-be-leaked-without-authorization/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [“The cliché that “everything leaks; it all comes out in the New York Times eventually” is emphatically not true, above all for sensitive compartmented…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/the-clich-that-everything-leaks-it-all-comes-out-in-the-new-york/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [“The fact is that the estimate of fatalities, in terms of what was calculable at that time—even before the discovery of nuclear winter—was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/the-fact-is-that-the-estimate-of-fatalities-in-terms-of-what-was/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [It is a tribute to the American people that our leaders perceived that they had to lie to us, it is not a tribute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/it-is-a-tribute-to-the-american-people-that-our-leaders-perceived/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [“Khrushchev told Norman Cousins, a few months after the crisis, his reaction at the time: When I asked the military advisors if they could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/khrushchev-told-norman-cousins-a-few-months-after-the-crisis-his/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [I agree that there are things that should be kept secret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/i-agree-that-there-are-things-that-should-be-kept-secret/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [If there's another 9/11 or a major war in the Middle-East involving a U.S. attack on Iran, I have no doubt that there will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/if-there-s-another-9-11-or-a-major-war-in-the-middle-east-involving-a/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [“Dwight Eisenhower had secretly endorsed the blueprints of this multi-genocide machine. He had furthermore demanded, largely for budgetary reasons, that there be no other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/dwight-eisenhower-had-secretly-endorsed-the-blueprints-of-this-multi/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [My feelings of revulsion and foreboding about nuclear weapons had not changed an iota since 1945, and they have never left me. Since I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/my-feelings-of-revulsion-and-foreboding-about-nuclear-weapons-had-not/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [We need the courage to face the truth about what we are doing in the world and act responsibly to change it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/we-need-the-courage-to-face-the-truth-about-what-we-are-doing-in-the/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [It is urgent to prevent new U.S. aggression. The time is now for the world to say 'no' to U.S. threats of air attack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/it-is-urgent-to-prevent-new-u-s-aggression-the-time-is-now-for-the/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [“Whether rightly or wrongly, we are the only country in the world that believes it won a war by bombing—specifically by bombing cities with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/whether-rightly-or-wrongly-we-are-the-only-country-in-the-world-that/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [“Throughout the Cold War such priorities reflected a command environment in which —it was regarded as overwhelmingly more important to assure a Go response…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/throughout-the-cold-war-such-priorities-reflected-a-command/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) > [There should be at least one leak like the Pentagon Papers every year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ellsberg/there-should-be-at-least-one-leak-like-the-pentagon-papers-every-year/) [Daniel Ellsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) [Explore all 58 Daniel Ellsberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-ellsberg/) ## More Fossil fuel quotes > [Fossil fuels, including oil, are running out and supplies are getting harder to find. If we do nothing, prices will continue to rise and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-powell/fossil-fuels-including-oil-are-running-out-and-supplies-are-getting/) [Lucy Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-powell/) > [So many people are on the front lines of this fossil fuel frenzy. It is infused with a sense of urgency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avi-lewis/so-many-people-are-on-the-front-lines-of-this-fossil-fuel-frenzy-it/) [Avi Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avi-lewis/) > [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/) > [No matter what else happens, this is the century in which we must learn to live without fossil fuel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-goodstein/no-matter-what-else-happens-this-is-the-century-in-which-we-must/) [David Goodstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-goodstein/) > [Growing corn, which from a biological perspective had always been a process of capturing sunlight to turn into food, has in no small measure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/growing-corn-which-from-a-biological-perspective-had-always-been-a/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“People who claim, for example, that capitalism can overcome its dependence on fossil fuel have either not researched the question or they are on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-goff/people-who-claim-for-example-that-capitalism-can-overcome-its/) [Stan Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-goff/) > [“When Barack Obama took office, the fossil fuel industry was not only eager to preserve its perks but also more militant in its opposition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-mayer/when-barack-obama-took-office-the-fossil-fuel-industry-was-not-only/) [Jane Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-mayer/) > [Civilization as we know it will come to an end sometime in this century unless we can find a way to live without fossil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-goodstein/civilization-as-we-know-it-will-come-to-an-end-sometime-in-this/) [David Goodstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-goodstein/) > [To be clear, I don't know whether the fossil fuel industry and its allies engaged in the same kind of racketeering activity as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/to-be-clear-i-don-t-know-whether-the-fossil-fuel-industry-and-its/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [You've got to do everything, everything's got to be pointing in the same direction and you've got to really turn this whole economic engine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/you-ve-got-to-do-everything-everything-s-got-to-be-pointing-in-the/) [Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/) > [The sooner we get started with alternative energy sources and recognize that fossil fuels makes us less secure as a nation, and more dangerous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsey-graham/the-sooner-we-get-started-with-alternative-energy-sources-and/) [Lindsey Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsey-graham/) > [The fossil fuel industry has taken control of, and powered up, architecture and methods originally built by the tobacco industry and others to attack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/the-fossil-fuel-industry-has-taken-control-of-and-powered-up/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [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/) > [I find it interesting that many of the people who want to restrict fossil fuels live in well-developed countries where abundant and affordable energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-r-raymond/i-find-it-interesting-that-many-of-the-people-who-want-to-restrict/) [Lee R. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-r-raymond/) > [Many are outspoken about the climate crisis, but conveniently ignore the fact that support for fossil fuels is not just incompatible with curbing emissions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-lucas/many-are-outspoken-about-the-climate-crisis-but-conveniently-ignore/) [Caroline Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-lucas/) [Browse all 507 Fossil fuel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossil-fuel/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Is it simply quixotic to hope to preserve human civilization from either the effects of burning fossil fuels or preparing for nuclear war? 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