---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we go on as we are, we will destroy in…"
description: "\"If we go on as we are, we will destroy in the next century everything that the poets have been singing about for the past two thousand years.\" — Fred B..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/fred-bodsworth-99852_century_if-we-go-on-as-we-are-we-will-destroy-in_1949260.png"
---

#  If we go on as we are, we will destroy in the next century…

![“If we go on as we are, we will destroy in the next century everything that the poets have been singing about for the past two thousand years.” quote by Fred Bodsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/fred-bodsworth-99852_century_if-we-go-on-as-we-are-we-will-destroy-in_1949260.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/fred-bodsworth-99852_century_if-we-go-on-as-we-are-we-will-destroy-in_1949260.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/fred-bodsworth-99852_century_if-we-go-on-as-we-are-we-will-destroy-in_1949260.png)

> “If we go on as we are, we will destroy in the next century everything that the poets have been singing about for the past two thousand years.”

[Fred Bodsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-bodsworth/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Continuing destructive paths will erase centuries of poetic and environmental heritage.

**In simple terms:** Current actions threaten cultural and ecological legacy.

Key Takeaway

Change behavior, protect heritage.

Themes

environment culture legacy destruction future

Mood

concerned urgent somber

Type

Century:1 Destroy:1 Environment:1 Goes on:0 Has beens:0 Ifs:0 Next:0 Past:1 Poet:1 Poetry:1 Singing:0 Thousand:0 Thousand years:0 Two:0 Years:0 Destroy Century:1 Century Poets:1 Past Thousand:0

When to use this quote

- policy making
- education
- activism

Key Concepts

ecology literature history ethics

Questions to Reflect On

- What actions can reverse damage?
- How do we value poetic heritage?

A Different Perspective

Change may be too slow.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Century Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century-poets-3152673/) [Destroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroy/) [Destroy Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroy-century-3152672/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Goes on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goes-on/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Next](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Past Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-thousand-3152674/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Singing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singing/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/)

## Related quotes

> [No future historian of the United States will be able to use quotations from her twentieth-century poets in support of an imperial policy of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-corbin-henderson/no-future-historian-of-the-united-states-will-be-able-to-use/)

[Alice Corbin Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-corbin-henderson/)

> [We want to believe that we can continue doing what we've done for the past thousand years and not worry about the consequences coming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-earle/we-want-to-believe-that-we-can-continue-doing-what-we-ve-done-for-the/)

[Sylvia Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-earle/)

> [“Exactly. That's what's been happening here for the past ten thousand years: You've been doing what you damn well please with the world. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/exactly-that-s-what-s-been-happening-here-for-the-past-ten-thousand/)

[Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/)

> [We will not waste 30 years of our lives dealing with extremist ideas; we will destroy them today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammad-bin-salman/we-will-not-waste-30-years-of-our-lives-dealing-with-extremist-ideas/)

[Mohammad bin Salman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammad-bin-salman/)

> [Just a reminder, if you tell anyone about what happened with Jonah last night, I'll destroy all of my writing and never play music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/just-a-reminder-if-you-tell-anyone-about-what-happened-with-jonah/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [In a democracy, the one thing that cannot be done is to destroy its trust, its hope, its idealism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-heinz/in-a-democracy-the-one-thing-that-cannot-be-done-is-to-destroy-its/)

[Teresa Heinz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-heinz/)

> [“Put that thing down, girl. Don't you know it steals part of your soul, that little mechanical masterpiece you hold so frivolously? Don't you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-noelle-long/put-that-thing-down-girl-don-t-you-know-it-steals-part-of-your-soul/)

[Shannon Noelle Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-noelle-long/)

> [The greatest of all crimes are the wars that are carried on by governments, to plunder, enslave, and destroy mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/the-greatest-of-all-crimes-are-the-wars-that-are-carried-on-by/)

[Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/)

> [When I became successful, I put up a caution. I didn't think it was fair to have the shadow of that kind of success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-redford/when-i-became-successful-i-put-up-a-caution-i-didn-t-think-it-was/)

[Robert Redford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-redford/)

> [Destroy gossip by ignoring it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariane-corbito/destroy-gossip-by-ignoring-it/)

[Mariane Corbito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariane-corbito/)

> [“He who can destroy a thing has the real control of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/he-who-can-destroy-a-thing-has-the-real-control-of-it/)

[Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/)

> [How could you justify giving Holland twice the amount of money that you gave Belgium? Well, finally, I put it up to them. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-averell-harriman/how-could-you-justify-giving-holland-twice-the-amount-of-money-that/)

[W. Averell Harriman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-averell-harriman/)

> [We do not know which irresponsible Israeli prime minister will take office and decide to use nuclear weapons in the struggle against neighboring Arab…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordechai-vanunu/we-do-not-know-which-irresponsible-israeli-prime-minister-will-take/)

[Mordechai Vanunu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordechai-vanunu/)

> [We shall fight against them, throw them in prisons and destroy them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/we-shall-fight-against-them-throw-them-in-prisons-and-destroy-them/)

[Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/)

> [“That would be just like me-ruin everything, destroy the world, in a moment of klutziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/that-would-be-just-like-me-ruin-everything-destroy-the-world-in-a/)

[Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/)

## More by Fred Bodsworth

> [Out of the blending of human and animal stories comes the theme that I hope is inherent in all my books: that man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-bodsworth/out-of-the-blending-of-human-and-animal-stories-comes-the-theme-that/)

[Fred Bodsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-bodsworth/)

[Explore all 2 Fred Bodsworth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-bodsworth/)

## More Century quotes

> [I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-always-that-i-am-an-outsider-a-stranger-in-this-century-and/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/)

[Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/)

> [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/)

[David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/)

> [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. It might be two seconds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/talented-people-can-predict-with-great-accuracy-what-s-about-to/)

[Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/)

> [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/)

[James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/)

> [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/)

[Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/)

> [At no time in the past century has public distrust of the government been so broadly distributed across the political spectrum, as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-zimmermann/at-no-time-in-the-past-century-has-public-distrust-of-the-government/)

[Phil Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-zimmermann/)

> [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/)

[Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/)

> [The young people today are the 21st century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/the-young-people-today-are-the-21st-century/)

[Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/)

> [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/)

[Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/)

> [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/)

[William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/)

> [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/)

[Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/)

> [Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service—considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/consequently-citizen-legislators-rotating-back-to-their-communities/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

[Browse all 5,406 Century quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "If we go on as we are, we will destroy in the next century everything that the poets have been singing about for the past two thousand years.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Fred Bodsworth"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-bodsworth/if-we-go-on-as-we-are-we-will-destroy-in-the-next-century-everything/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Century"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-bodsworth/if-we-go-on-as-we-are-we-will-destroy-in-the-next-century-everything/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/fred-bodsworth-99852_century_if-we-go-on-as-we-are-we-will-destroy-in_1949260.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/fred-bodsworth-99852_century_if-we-go-on-as-we-are-we-will-destroy-in_1949260.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/757/fred-bodsworth-99852_century_if-we-go-on-as-we-are-we-will-destroy-in_1949260.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“If we go on as we are, we will destroy in the next century everything that the poets have been singing about…” — Fred Bodsworth",
                "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": "Fred Bodsworth",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-bodsworth/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "If we go on as we...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-bodsworth/if-we-go-on-as-we-are-we-will-destroy-in-the-next-century-everything/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-bodsworth/if-we-go-on-as-we-are-we-will-destroy-in-the-next-century-everything/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
