--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our earth was just one thin example of…" description: "\"“Our earth was just one thin example of what was possible, and because it was possible, this history was inevitable”\" — Elizabeth Bear" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac7/elizabeth-bear-20352_history_our-earth-was-just-one-thin-example-of-w_2893500.png" --- # Our earth was just one thin example of what was possible… ![“Our earth was just one thin example of what was possible, and because it was possible, this history was inevitable” quote by Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac7/elizabeth-bear-20352_history_our-earth-was-just-one-thin-example-of-w_2893500.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac7/elizabeth-bear-20352_history_our-earth-was-just-one-thin-example-of-w_2893500.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac7/elizabeth-bear-20352_history_our-earth-was-just-one-thin-example-of-w_2893500.png) > ““Our earth was just one thin example of what was possible, and because it was possible, this history was inevitable”” [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Earth’s fragility and inevitability of history suggest that existence is a thin, inevitable thread. **In simple terms:** History is inevitable, Earth fragile. Key Takeaway Recognize our place in a delicate, predetermined continuum. Themes environment history philosophy Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical speculative When to use this quote - science fiction - climate discourse - philosophical debate Key Concepts existential fragility determinism Questions to Reflect On - How does this view affect responsibility? - Can we change inevitable outcomes? A Different Perspective Determinism may diminish agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Earth Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth-just-241211/) [Example Possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/example-possible-4076134/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Inevitable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-inevitable-1533520/) [Inevitable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inevitable/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Possible History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possible-history-3711530/) ## Related quotes > [I tell people that the history of Mozilla and Firefox is so one of a kind that it should not be used - ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-kapor/i-tell-people-that-the-history-of-mozilla-and-firefox-is-so-one-of-a/) [Mitch Kapor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-kapor/) > [Writing of history is our only heuristic principle. The Germans have a word for it, einfühlen. It is the ability to experience the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/writing-of-history-is-our-only-heuristic-principle-the-germans-have-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I learned more from my family - my mom and my dad always tried to keep me as educated as possible on our history.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerami-grant/i-learned-more-from-my-family-my-mom-and-my-dad-always-tried-to-keep/) [Jerami Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerami-grant/) > [Our history is an inevitable component of our being. One thing only can release us from the grip of our history. That one thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/our-history-is-an-inevitable-component-of-our-being-one-thing-only/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [“Money is normative. So pervasive is its influence on our lives that it makes less moneyed ages incomprehensible, consigning them to barbarism or folklore.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/money-is-normative-so-pervasive-is-its-influence-on-our-lives-that-it/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [“Fatalism in history is inevitable for the explanation of senseless phenomena (that is, those whose sense we do not understand).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/fatalism-in-history-is-inevitable-for-the-explanation-of-senseless/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“I'm very down to Earth, I'm just not from this Earth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-lagerfeld/i-m-very-down-to-earth-i-m-just-not-from-this-earth/) [Karl Lagerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-lagerfeld/) > [Imagine if the whole point of this experience on planet Earth was to just open ourselves up more fully to who we really are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-bleiler/imagine-if-the-whole-point-of-this-experience-on-planet-earth-was-to/) [Gretchen Bleiler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-bleiler/) > [I think the Native Americans had the right idea about preserving and respecting the earth. Not just using it up. We are not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lurie/i-think-the-native-americans-had-the-right-idea-about-preserving-and/) [John Lurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lurie/) > [The earth is not just our environment. The earth is our mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-earth-is-not-just-our-environment-the-earth-is-our-mother/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [I think - you know, I'm a guy that - I don't live on the earth just to walk it. I live on here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-mcgrady/i-think-you-know-i-m-a-guy-that-i-don-t-live-on-the-earth-just-to/) [Tracy McGrady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-mcgrady/) > [The time that I have on this earth should just be filled with good times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-kinane/the-time-that-i-have-on-this-earth-should-just-be-filled-with-good/) [Kyle Kinane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-kinane/) > [“The earth is not just for the clever and the strong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shusaku-endo/the-earth-is-not-just-for-the-clever-and-the-strong/) [Shūsaku Endō](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shusaku-endo/) > [We're renting the space that we call Earth, so we may as well just go for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masiela-lusha/we-re-renting-the-space-that-we-call-earth-so-we-may-as-well-just-go/) [Masiela Lusha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masiela-lusha/) > [The Earth is just too small and fragile a basket for the human race to keep all its eggs in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-earth-is-just-too-small-and-fragile-a-basket-for-the-human-race/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## More by Elizabeth Bear > [“When you are a certain age or when you have lost certain things and people, Aimee’s crippling grief will make a terrible poisoned dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/when-you-are-a-certain-age-or-when-you-have-lost-certain-things-and/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [“He made a noise she recognized, one that meant he was organizing whatever multidimensional information lattices inhabited his mental space into linear strings amenable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/he-made-a-noise-she-recognized-one-that-meant-he-was-organizing/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [“How will you know that you love, if there is no terror of losing? Is it love at all, if there is no risk?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/how-will-you-know-that-you-love-if-there-is-no-terror-of-losing-is-it/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [“The older he got, the simpler the world was revealed to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/the-older-he-got-the-simpler-the-world-was-revealed-to-be/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [“...one must come to the understanding in the end that one was always insufficiently practiced, and yet one must sometimes act anyway. Practice itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/one-must-come-to-the-understanding-in-the-end-that-one-was-always/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [The secret to getting away with lying, is believing with all your heart. That goes for lying to yourself even more so than lying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/the-secret-to-getting-away-with-lying-is-believing-with-all-your/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [“Her neural pattern must remain intact for the time being, as it was still necessary that she stay herself. Changes to her identity would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/her-neural-pattern-must-remain-intact-for-the-time-being-as-it-was/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [ “If you have to die \[...\] better to go down fighting. Better to die in company. Better not be the last, and alone, weighed… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/if-you-have-to-die-better-to-go-down-fighting-better-to-die-in/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [The end of the world was supposed to be gradual. There was supposed to be warning. A long, slow slide. What we got was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/the-end-of-the-world-was-supposed-to-be-gradual-there-was-supposed-to/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [“Djinn,” she said. “We go to review the troops. Clothe me as befits a queen.” “Silks and satins?” he asked, eyes sparkling like sapphires.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/djinn-she-said-we-go-to-review-the-troops-clothe-me-as-befits-a-queen/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [“...there were none so scornful as those who had had to learn the hard way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/there-were-none-so-scornful-as-those-who-had-had-to-learn-the-hard-way/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [Every one of us is a minor tragedy. Most of us learn to cope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/every-one-of-us-is-a-minor-tragedy-most-of-us-learn-to-cope/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [“When the Dragon bent her neck to shift a wing long as a battlefold, an ashen sheen rippled over char-dark scales.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/when-the-dragon-bent-her-neck-to-shift-a-wing-long-as-a-battlefold-an/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [“But Doc knew that was the key to successful lying. People judged what other people would do by what they themselves would do. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/but-doc-knew-that-was-the-key-to-successful-lying-people-judged-what/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) > [“The words were low, more shape than breath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/the-words-were-low-more-shape-than-breath/) [Elizabeth Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) [Explore all 30 Elizabeth Bear quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/) ## More History quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [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/) > [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The NBA is my history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-hardaway/the-nba-is-my-history/) [Penny Hardaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-hardaway/) > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. This is a complete telling of the story, 'Food.' The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) [C-DASH](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-dash/) > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) [Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Our earth was just one thin example of what was possible, and because it was possible, this history was inevitable”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Bear" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/our-earth-was-just-one-thin-example-of-what-was-possible-and-because/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/our-earth-was-just-one-thin-example-of-what-was-possible-and-because/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac7/elizabeth-bear-20352_history_our-earth-was-just-one-thin-example-of-w_2893500.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac7/elizabeth-bear-20352_history_our-earth-was-just-one-thin-example-of-w_2893500.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac7/elizabeth-bear-20352_history_our-earth-was-just-one-thin-example-of-w_2893500.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our earth was just one thin example of what was possible, and because it was possible, this history was…” — Elizabeth Bear", "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": "Elizabeth Bear", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bear/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Our earth was just one thin...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/our-earth-was-just-one-thin-example-of-what-was-possible-and-because/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bear/our-earth-was-just-one-thin-example-of-what-was-possible-and-because/#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 } } ] } ```