--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ecological devastation is the excrement…" description: "\"Ecological devastation is the excrement, so to speak, of man's power worship.\" — Ernest Becker" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/ernest-becker-7036_devastation_ecological-devastation-is-the-excrement_2113479.jpg" --- # Ecological devastation is the excrement, so to speak, of… ![“Ecological devastation is the excrement, so to speak, of man's power worship.” quote by Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/ernest-becker-7036_devastation_ecological-devastation-is-the-excrement_2113479.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/ernest-becker-7036_devastation_ecological-devastation-is-the-excrement_2113479.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/ernest-becker-7036_devastation_ecological-devastation-is-the-excrement_2113479.jpg) > “Ecological devastation is the excrement, so to speak, of man's power worship.” [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human domination over nature leads to environmental ruin. **In simple terms:** Power over nature causes ecological damage. Key Takeaway Respect ecological limits. Themes environment power domination Mood concerned serious Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - industrial development - urban planning - policy making - personal consumption Key Concepts anthropocentrism ecology Questions to Reflect On - How does personal power translate into environmental harm? - What policies can curb ecological damage? A Different Perspective Ecological devastation also stems from systemic inequality, not just worship of power. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Devastation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devastation/) [Devastation Excrement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devastation-excrement-4277677/) [Ecological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecological/) [Ecological Devastation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecological-devastation-3590100/) [Environmental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental/) [Man Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-power/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Pollution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pollution/) [Power Worship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-worship-944867/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Worship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worship/) ## Related quotes > [Every time we consume meat, eggs or dairy foods, we contribute to ecological devastation and the wasteful misuse of resources on a global scale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/every-time-we-consume-meat-eggs-or-dairy-foods-we-contribute-to/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [It is a fact that the ecological devastation of the planet can be traced to the consumption of meat and dairy, which contributes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-gannon/it-is-a-fact-that-the-ecological-devastation-of-the-planet-can-be/) [Sharon Gannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-gannon/) > [For years, the church has emphasized evangelism, teaching, fellowship, missions, and service to society to the neglect of the very source of its power--worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-webber/for-years-the-church-has-emphasized-evangelism-teaching-fellowship/) [Robert E. Webber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-webber/) > [“The power worship of the Promethean amounts to a travesty of the enhancement of life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-mangabeira-unger/the-power-worship-of-the-promethean-amounts-to-a-travesty-of-the/) [Roberto Mangabeira Unger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-mangabeira-unger/) > [Power-worship blurs political judgment because it leads, almost unavoidably, to the belief that present trends will continue. Whoever is winning at the moment will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/power-worship-blurs-political-judgment-because-it-leads-almost/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [There would be no call for ecological campaigning had nature not been exploited and abused. We experience the ground now bringing forth thistles as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/there-would-be-no-call-for-ecological-campaigning-had-nature-not-been/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Although two thirds of our planet is water, we face an acute water shortage. The water crisis is the most pervasive , most severe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vandana-shiva/although-two-thirds-of-our-planet-is-water-we-face-an-acute-water/) [Vandana Shiva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vandana-shiva/) > [The foes now are universal - poverty, famine, religious radicalization, desertification, drugs, proliferation of nuclear weapons, ecological devastation. They threaten all nations, just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/the-foes-now-are-universal-poverty-famine-religious-radicalization/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [Violence is a man so you have the power to lock him up for ever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-castro/violence-is-a-man-so-you-have-the-power-to-lock-him-up-for-ever/) [Mike Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-castro/) > [I have never thought, for my part, that man's freedom consists in his being able to do whatever he wills, but that he should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/i-have-never-thought-for-my-part-that-man-s-freedom-consists-in-his/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [You convey too great a compliment when you say that I have earned the right to the presidential nomination. No man can establish such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/you-convey-too-great-a-compliment-when-you-say-that-i-have-earned-the/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) > [“The air, the water, and the ground are free gifts to man, and no one has the power to portion them out in parcels.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenimore-cooper/the-air-the-water-and-the-ground-are-free-gifts-to-man-and-no-one-has/) [James Fenimore Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenimore-cooper/) > [But innovation is more than a new method. It is a new view of the universe, as one of risk rather than of chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/but-innovation-is-more-than-a-new-method-it-is-a-new-view-of-the/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [Love is an active power in man; a power which breaks through the walls which separate man from his fellow men, which unite him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/love-is-an-active-power-in-man-a-power-which-breaks-through-the-walls/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“This path will lead right down into the deepest situation of human powerlessness. The follower becomes a laughingstock, scorned and taken for a fool,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxes/this-path-will-lead-right-down-into-the-deepest-situation-of-human/) [Eric Metaxes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxes/) ## More by Ernest Becker > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [“the characteristics the modern mind prides itself on are precisely those of madness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/the-characteristics-the-modern-mind-prides-itself-on-are-precisely/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [“When we are young we are often puzzled by the fact that each person we admire seems to have a different version of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/when-we-are-young-we-are-often-puzzled-by-the-fact-that-each-person/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [Relationship is thus always slavery of a kind, which leaves a residue of guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/relationship-is-thus-always-slavery-of-a-kind-which-leaves-a-residue/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [“neurosis as a problem of character and have seen that it can be approached in two ways: as a problem of too much narrowness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/neurosis-as-a-problem-of-character-and-have-seen-that-it-can-be/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [When we understand that man is the only animal who must create meaning, who must open a wedge into neutral nature, we already understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/when-we-understand-that-man-is-the-only-animal-who-must-create/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [What is the ideal for mental health, then? A lived, compelling illusion that does not lie about life, death, and reality; one honest enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-is-the-ideal-for-mental-health-then-a-lived-compelling-illusion/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [“This is one of the reasons for bigotry and censorship of all kinds over personal morality: people fear that the standard morality will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/this-is-one-of-the-reasons-for-bigotry-and-censorship-of-all-kinds/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [“Civilized" society is a hopeful belief and protest that science, money and goods make man count for more than any other animal. In this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/civilized-society-is-a-hopeful-belief-and-protest-that-science-money/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We might say that psychoanalysis revealed to us the complex penalties of denying the truth of man's condition, what we might call the costs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/we-might-say-that-psychoanalysis-revealed-to-us-the-complex-penalties/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [“Understanding this, Rank could take a great step beyond Freud. Freud thought that modern man’s moral dependence on another was a result of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/understanding-this-rank-could-take-a-great-step-beyond-freud-freud/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [“The world of human aspiration is largely fictitious and if we do not understand this we understand nothing about man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/the-world-of-human-aspiration-is-largely-fictitious-and-if-we-do-not/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [“If the partner becomes God he can just as easily become the Devil; the reason is not far to seek. For one thing, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/if-the-partner-becomes-god-he-can-just-as-easily-become-the-devil-the/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [“every human being is… equally unfree, that is, we… create out of freedom, a prison….”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/every-human-being-is-equally-unfree-that-is-we-create-out-of-freedom/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [“The point is that if the love object is divine perfection, then one’s own self is elevated by joining one’s destiny to it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/the-point-is-that-if-the-love-object-is-divine-perfection-then-one-s/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) [Explore all 95 Ernest Becker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) ## More Devastation quotes > [As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-far-as-i-know-the-question-of-whether-and-how-it-could-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Talent? That's not talent. Talent is Liza Minnelli tap dancing and singing at the same time. What I just saw was devastation. Dying man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffanie-debartolo/talent-that-s-not-talent-talent-is-liza-minnelli-tap-dancing-and/) [Tiffanie DeBartolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffanie-debartolo/) > [These are the men who, without virtue, labour, or hazard, are growing rich, as their country is impoverished; they rejoice, when obstinacy or ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/these-are-the-men-who-without-virtue-labour-or-hazard-are-growing/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Promoting the use of sustainable and renewable rainforest products can help to stop rainforest devastation. The rainforests are much more valuable alive than cut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kilham/promoting-the-use-of-sustainable-and-renewable-rainforest-products/) [Chris Kilham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kilham/) > [This is the great truth life has to teach us ... that gratification of our individual desires and expression of our personal preferences without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hortense-odlum/this-is-the-great-truth-life-has-to-teach-us-that-gratification-of/) [Hortense Odlum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hortense-odlum/) > [ As you look back in history, we \[the United States\] have done wonderful things, the Marshal Plan is the most obvious. After World War… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beschloss/as-you-look-back-in-history-we-the-united-states-have-done-wonderful/) [Michael Beschloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beschloss/) > [To appeal to contemporary man to revert, in this twentieth century, to a pagan-like nature worship in order to restrain technology from further encroachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lamm/to-appeal-to-contemporary-man-to-revert-in-this-twentieth-century-to/) [Norman Lamm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lamm/) > [Instead of agitating for war, the Jewish groups in this country should be opposing it in every possible way, for they will be among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/instead-of-agitating-for-war-the-jewish-groups-in-this-country-should/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) > [PERFORMING TRIBUTE 9/11 shows the heroism of people who have chosen to respond to devastation and hatred with quiet determination and a belief that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-arad/performing-tribute-9-11-shows-the-heroism-of-people-who-have-chosen/) [Michael Arad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-arad/) > [“I am back in my beloved city. 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All life has been replaced by blackened, poisoned desolation. Animals and birds have either fled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-cundall/stand-in-despair-anywhere-old-growth-forest-has-been-clear-felled-all/) [Peter Cundall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-cundall/) > [There are terrible, terrible memories of September 11th, things that I saw, people that I lost, the devastation, the identification of bodies. I mean,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-giuliani/there-are-terrible-terrible-memories-of-september-11th-things-that-i/) [Rudy Giuliani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-giuliani/) > [The common fisheries policy unfortunately led to the devastation of fishing in Scotland. My dad had to close his business. As a result something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gove/the-common-fisheries-policy-unfortunately-led-to-the-devastation-of/) [Michael Gove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gove/) [Browse all 183 Devastation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devastation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ecological devastation is the excrement, so to speak, of man's power worship.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernest Becker" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/ecological-devastation-is-the-excrement-so-to-speak-of-man-s-power/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Devastation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/ecological-devastation-is-the-excrement-so-to-speak-of-man-s-power/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/ernest-becker-7036_devastation_ecological-devastation-is-the-excrement_2113479.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/ernest-becker-7036_devastation_ecological-devastation-is-the-excrement_2113479.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/ernest-becker-7036_devastation_ecological-devastation-is-the-excrement_2113479.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Ecological devastation is the excrement, so to speak, of man's power worship.” — Ernest Becker", "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": "Ernest Becker", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Ecological devastation is the excrement, so...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/ecological-devastation-is-the-excrement-so-to-speak-of-man-s-power/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/ecological-devastation-is-the-excrement-so-to-speak-of-man-s-power/#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 } } ] } ```