--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It will be a vast boon to mankind when we…" description: "\"It will be a vast boon to mankind when we learn to prophesy the precise dates when cycles of various kinds will reach definite stages.\" — Ellsworth Hun..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a29/ellsworth-huntington-17558_boon_it-will-be-a-vast-boon-to-mankind-when-w_818640.png" --- # It will be a vast boon to mankind when we learn to… ![“It will be a vast boon to mankind when we learn to prophesy the precise dates when cycles of various kinds will reach definite stages.” quote by Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a29/ellsworth-huntington-17558_boon_it-will-be-a-vast-boon-to-mankind-when-w_818640.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a29/ellsworth-huntington-17558_boon_it-will-be-a-vast-boon-to-mankind-when-w_818640.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a29/ellsworth-huntington-17558_boon_it-will-be-a-vast-boon-to-mankind-when-w_818640.png) > “It will be a vast boon to mankind when we learn to prophesy the precise dates when cycles of various kinds will reach definite stages.” [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Predicting cyclical phases could benefit humanity, but precise dating is uncertain. **In simple terms:** Forecasting cycles may help, but is hard. Key Takeaway Seek patterns, stay cautious. Themes science prediction humanity uncertainty Mood analytical curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - climate policy - economic planning - health forecasting - technology roadmaps Key Concepts systems thinking temporal analysis Questions to Reflect On - Which cycles matter most to you? - How can you balance optimism with scientific limits? A Different Perspective Complex systems resist exact dating. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cycles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Precise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precise/) [Prophesy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prophesy/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) ## Related quotes > [I have come to the realization that history is not a fixed thing, a collection of precise dates, facts and events (even cogent commencement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/i-have-come-to-the-realization-that-history-is-not-a-fixed-thing-a/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [It is the true nature of mankind to learn from mistakes, not from example.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/it-is-the-true-nature-of-mankind-to-learn-from-mistakes-not-from/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/example-is-the-school-of-mankind-and-they-will-learn-at-no-other/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“Mankind must learn to coexist with each other to create a peaceful world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/mankind-must-learn-to-coexist-with-each-other-to-create-a-peaceful/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“Evil is the worst necessity for mankind to learn and earn better life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/evil-is-the-worst-necessity-for-mankind-to-learn-and-earn-better-life/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [Time after time mankind is driven against the rocks of the horrid reality of a fallen creation. And time after time mankind must learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/time-after-time-mankind-is-driven-against-the-rocks-of-the-horrid/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [ “Nector \[speaking to Bernadette\] could have told her, having drunk down the words of Nanapush, that comfort is not security and money in the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/nector-speaking-to-bernadette-could-have-told-her-having-drunk-down/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [“If I prophesy my future I want to prophesy something good. I’m not saying what I feel. I’m not saying what it looks like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/if-i-prophesy-my-future-i-want-to-prophesy-something-good-i-m-not/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [“So, in the end, above ground you must have the Haves, pursuing pleasure and comfort and beauty, and below ground the Have-nots, the Workers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/so-in-the-end-above-ground-you-must-have-the-haves-pursuing-pleasure/) [H.G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-2/) > [“The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/the-spirit-of-the-lord-will-come-upon-you-in-power-and-you-will/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [ “As the Tawrat \[Torah\], the Zabur \[The Psalms of David\], the Injil \[Gospel\] and the Quran are divine books, the Veda \[written in about… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/md-ziaul-haque/as-the-tawrat-torah-the-zabur-the-psalms-of-david-the-injil-gospel/) [Md. Ziaul Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/md-ziaul-haque/) > [“A book of prophesy opens the doors. You need a second book to close it. Tanno Spiritwalker Kimloc”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/a-book-of-prophesy-opens-the-doors-you-need-a-second-book-to-close-it/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [There are two processes which we adopt consciously or unconsciously when we try to prophesy. We can seek a period in the past whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/there-are-two-processes-which-we-adopt-consciously-or-unconsciously/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Fiction has this special power. It has a power to clarify, to galvanize, to prophesy, and warn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/fiction-has-this-special-power-it-has-a-power-to-clarify-to-galvanize/) [Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/) > [“ACT21.9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/act21-9-and-the-same-man-had-four-daughters-virgins-which-did-prophesy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Ellsworth Huntington > [The evidence points to central Asia as man's original home, for the general movement of human migrations has been outward from that region and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/the-evidence-points-to-central-asia-as-man-s-original-home-for-the/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [After washing there was no place to pour the water except out of the window onto the heads of the people in the streets,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/after-washing-there-was-no-place-to-pour-the-water-except-out-of-the/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [Although farming of any sort was almost as impossible in the plains as in the dry regions of winter rains farther west, the abundance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/although-farming-of-any-sort-was-almost-as-impossible-in-the-plains/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [America forms the longest and straightest bone in the earth's skeleton.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/america-forms-the-longest-and-straightest-bone-in-the-earth-s-skeleton/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [It seems strange that almost no other traces of the strong vikings are found in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/it-seems-strange-that-almost-no-other-traces-of-the-strong-vikings/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [Again and again, to be sure, on the way to America, and under many other circumstances, man has passed through the most adverse climates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/again-and-again-to-be-sure-on-the-way-to-america-and-under-many-other/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [Year by year we are learning that in this restless, strenuous American life of ours vacations are essential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/year-by-year-we-are-learning-that-in-this-restless-strenuous-american/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [Except on their southern borders the great northern forests are not good as a permanent home for man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/except-on-their-southern-borders-the-great-northern-forests-are-not/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [From first to last the civilization of America has been bound up with its physical environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/from-first-to-last-the-civilization-of-america-has-been-bound-up-with/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [Fertile soil, level plains, easy passage across the mountains, coal, iron, and other metals imbedded in the rocks, and a stimulating climate, all shower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/fertile-soil-level-plains-easy-passage-across-the-mountains-coal-iron/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [History in its broadest aspect is a record of man's migrations from one environment to another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/history-in-its-broadest-aspect-is-a-record-of-man-s-migrations-from/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [We are learning, too, that the love of beauty is one of Nature's greatest healers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/we-are-learning-too-that-the-love-of-beauty-is-one-of-nature-s/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [As a matter of fact, an ordinary desert supports a much greater variety of plants than does either a forest or a prairie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/as-a-matter-of-fact-an-ordinary-desert-supports-a-much-greater/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [Man could not stay there forever. He was bound to spread to new regions, partly because of his innate migratory tendency and partly because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/man-could-not-stay-there-forever-he-was-bound-to-spread-to-new/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [The Negro, however, has been tested on an extensive scale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/the-negro-however-has-been-tested-on-an-extensive-scale/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) [Explore all 37 Ellsworth Huntington quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) ## More Boon quotes > [Liberty ... was a two-headed boon. There was first, the liberty of the people as a whole to determine the forms of their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/liberty-was-a-two-headed-boon-there-was-first-the-liberty-of-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Truly, the bench is a boon to idlers. Whoever first came up with the idea is a genius: free public resting places where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/truly-the-bench-is-a-boon-to-idlers-whoever-first-came-up-with-the/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [Death is an ill; 'tis thus the Gods decide: / For had death been a boon, the Gods had died.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/death-is-an-ill-tis-thus-the-gods-decide-for-had-death-been-a-boon/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) > [Women, you overheated dipsomaniacs, never passing up a chance to wangle a drink, a great boon to bartenders but a bane to us--not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/women-you-overheated-dipsomaniacs-never-passing-up-a-chance-to-wangle/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [Sisterly love is one of the few boons in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-bowles/sisterly-love-is-one-of-the-few-boons-in-this-life/) [Jane Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-bowles/) > [A good thought is indeed a great boon, for which God is to be first thanked; next he who is the first to utter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-good-thought-is-indeed-a-great-boon-for-which-god-is-to-be-first/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Texting is a fundamentally sneaky form of communication, which we should despise, but it is such a boon we don't care. We are all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/texting-is-a-fundamentally-sneaky-form-of-communication-which-we/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [Prayer is, paradoxically, both a gift and a conquest, a grace and a duty. Does that not mean, is it not a special case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-forsyth/prayer-is-paradoxically-both-a-gift-and-a-conquest-a-grace-and-a-duty/) [Peter Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-forsyth/) > [Friendship, peculiar boon of Heaven, The noble mind's delight and pride, To men and angels only given, To all the lower world denied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/friendship-peculiar-boon-of-heaven-the-noble-mind-s-delight-and-pride/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [My mother and father were never frightened of anything. They always felt that they should go through life happily and without fear, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cassavetes/my-mother-and-father-were-never-frightened-of-anything-they-always/) [John Cassavetes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cassavetes/) > [Whate'er my doom; It cannot be unhappy: God hath given me The boon of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/whate-er-my-doom-it-cannot-be-unhappy-god-hath-given-me-the-boon-of/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Is life a boon? If so, it must befall That Death, whene'er he call, Must call too soon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-gilbert/is-life-a-boon-if-so-it-must-befall-that-death-whene-er-he-call-must/) [W. S. Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-gilbert/) > [I do think that I have been fortunate to make friendships with other scholars, and form reading groups where ideas are exchanged and papers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-d-crisp/i-do-think-that-i-have-been-fortunate-to-make-friendships-with-other/) [Oliver D. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-d-crisp/) > [Youth is a silly, vapid state, Old age with fears and ills is rife, This simple boon I beg of Fate - A thousand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-wells/youth-is-a-silly-vapid-state-old-age-with-fears-and-ills-is-rife-this/) [Carolyn Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-wells/) > [We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking. And out of it we get an aggregation which we consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/we-all-do-no-end-of-feeling-and-we-mistake-it-for-thinking-and-out-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) Browse all 126 Boon quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It will be a vast boon to mankind when we learn to prophesy the precise dates when cycles of various kinds will reach definite stages.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ellsworth Huntington" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/it-will-be-a-vast-boon-to-mankind-when-we-learn-to-prophesy-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Boon" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/it-will-be-a-vast-boon-to-mankind-when-we-learn-to-prophesy-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a29/ellsworth-huntington-17558_boon_it-will-be-a-vast-boon-to-mankind-when-w_818640.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a29/ellsworth-huntington-17558_boon_it-will-be-a-vast-boon-to-mankind-when-w_818640.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a29/ellsworth-huntington-17558_boon_it-will-be-a-vast-boon-to-mankind-when-w_818640.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It will be a vast boon to mankind when we learn to prophesy the precise dates when cycles of various kinds…” — Ellsworth Huntington", "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": "Ellsworth Huntington", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It will be a vast boon...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/it-will-be-a-vast-boon-to-mankind-when-we-learn-to-prophesy-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/it-will-be-a-vast-boon-to-mankind-when-we-learn-to-prophesy-the/#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 } } ] } ```