---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nature holds no brief for the human…"
description: "\"Nature holds no brief for the human experiment; it must stand or fall by its results.\" — George Bernard Shaw"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bc/george-bernard-shaw-68_experiment_nature-holds-no-brief-for-the-human-expe_671848.png"
---

#  Nature holds no brief for the human experiment; it must…

![“Nature holds no brief for the human experiment; it must stand or fall by its results.” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bc/george-bernard-shaw-68_experiment_nature-holds-no-brief-for-the-human-expe_671848.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bc/george-bernard-shaw-68_experiment_nature-holds-no-brief-for-the-human-expe_671848.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bc/george-bernard-shaw-68_experiment_nature-holds-no-brief-for-the-human-expe_671848.png)

> “Nature holds no brief for the human experiment; it must stand or fall by its results.”

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

## About This Quote

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

Nature does not accommodate human experiments; it judges them by outcomes.

**In simple terms:** Nature judges human endeavors by results.

Key Takeaway

Align actions with natural consequences.

Themes

ethics environment human ambition

Mood

serious reflective

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- policy making
- scientific research
- sustainability planning

Key Concepts

systems thinking consequentialism

Questions to Reflect On

- How can we balance ambition with ecological limits?
- What responsibilities do we have to natural outcomes?

A Different Perspective

May ignore human agency and creativity.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Experiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiment/) [Experiment Stand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiment-stand-5332050/) [Experiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiments/) [Fall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fall/) [Human Experiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-experiment-2072619/) [Humankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humankind/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature Holds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-holds-2095492/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Results](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/results/) [Stand Fall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stand-fall-274497/)

## Related quotes

> [No doubt, humans will do a lot of damage before we ultimately destroy ourselves. But life will continue without humans. New forms of intelligence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeena-schreck/no-doubt-humans-will-do-a-lot-of-damage-before-we-ultimately-destroy/)

[Zeena Schreck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeena-schreck/)

> [Nature holds the beautiful, for the artist who has the insight to extract it. Thus, beauty lies even in humble, perhaps ugly things, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albrecht-durer/nature-holds-the-beautiful-for-the-artist-who-has-the-insight-to/)

[Albrecht Durer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albrecht-durer/)

> [Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nature-holds-the-key-to-our-aesthetic-intellectual-cognitive-and-even/)

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

> [“Beauty is boundless in nature, thus it holds no definitive form.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-chirisa/beauty-is-boundless-in-nature-thus-it-holds-no-definitive-form/)

[Wayne Chirisa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-chirisa/)

> [Geology holds the keys of one of the kingdoms of nature; and it cannot be said that a science which extends our Knowledge, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-buckland/geology-holds-the-keys-of-one-of-the-kingdoms-of-nature-and-it-cannot/)

[William Buckland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-buckland/)

> [Nature has introduced great variety into the landscape, but man has displayed a passion for simplifying it. Thus he undoes the built-in checks and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nature-has-introduced-great-variety-into-the-landscape-but-man-has/)

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

> [Nature holds an immense uncollected debt over every man's head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/nature-holds-an-immense-uncollected-debt-over-every-man-s-head/)

[Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/)

> [“We live in a world of shadow and light, pain and joy. We spend our entire lives investigating the many possible patterns of human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/we-live-in-a-world-of-shadow-and-light-pain-and-joy-we-spend-our/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

> [If you paint a picture and I paint a picture, we each want to do it our own way. And we'll stand or fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-west/if-you-paint-a-picture-and-i-paint-a-picture-we-each-want-to-do-it/)

[Adam West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-west/)

> [Relatives cannot help you in the studios. You stand or fall by your own efforts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glynis-johns/relatives-cannot-help-you-in-the-studios-you-stand-or-fall-by-your/)

[Glynis Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glynis-johns/)

> [My own brand will stand or fall because of me. Dior won't fall if I fall. It will also still stand if I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raf-simons/my-own-brand-will-stand-or-fall-because-of-me-dior-won-t-fall-if-i/)

[Raf Simons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raf-simons/)

> [I am no prince. I am no saint. I am not anyones wildest dream. But I can stand behind and be someone to fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-no-prince-i-am-no-saint-i-am-not-anyones-wildest-dream-but-i-can/)

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

> [We stand or fall by television.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/we-stand-or-fall-by-television/)

[E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/)

> [Society judges you not by what you stand for, but by what you fall for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/society-judges-you-not-by-what-you-stand-for-but-by-what-you-fall-for/)

[Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/)

> [Remember, Stand for something or you may fall for anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/remember-stand-for-something-or-you-may-fall-for-anything/)

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

## More by George Bernard Shaw

> [I love little children too but I don't cut off their heads and stick them in vases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-love-little-children-too-but-i-don-t-cut-off-their-heads-and-stick/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [Blasphemy and sedition (meaning the truth about Church and State).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/blasphemy-and-sedition-meaning-the-truth-about-church-and-state/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [In the arts of life, man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-life-man-invents-nothing-but-in-the-arts-of-death-he/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-a-man-believes-may-be-ascertained-not-from-his-creed-but-from/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [Men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/men-have-to-do-some-awfully-mean-things-to-keep-up-their/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [A man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. Any man who is still communist at the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-man-who-is-not-a-communist-at-the-age-of-twenty-is-a-fool-any-man/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/but-to-admire-a-strong-person-and-to-live-under-that-strong-person-s/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/socialism-is-the-same-as-communism-only-better-english/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-person-who-is-ignorant-enough-to-believe-that-his-nourishment/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [In the arts of peace Man is a bungler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-peace-man-is-a-bungler/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

[Explore all 1,640 George Bernard Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

## More Experiment quotes

> [The rules and principles of case law have never been treated as final truths but as working hypotheses, continually retested in those great laboratories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-n-cardozo/the-rules-and-principles-of-case-law-have-never-been-treated-as-final/)

[Benjamin N. Cardozo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-n-cardozo/)

> [Your responsibility as an artist is to experiment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/squarepusher/your-responsibility-as-an-artist-is-to-experiment/)

[Squarepusher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/squarepusher/)

> [Have I got the right to experiment with my child's life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-leunig/have-i-got-the-right-to-experiment-with-my-child-s-life/)

[Michael Leunig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-leunig/)

> [“There is a time and place for electromagnetic shielding and I regard it as a last resort due to the long term biological problems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/there-is-a-time-and-place-for-electromagnetic-shielding-and-i-regard/)

[Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/)

> [I picked economics at the end of my undergraduate time because it seemed to be a really nice combination of theory, including mathematical theory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-spence/i-picked-economics-at-the-end-of-my-undergraduate-time-because-it/)

[Michael Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-spence/)

> [As an artiste you want to experiment, meet new people and do different kind of songs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankit-tiwari/as-an-artiste-you-want-to-experiment-meet-new-people-and-do-different/)

[Ankit Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankit-tiwari/)

> [I don't really know who I am as an actor: the best thing would be to experiment with it for the next 30 years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-barnes/i-don-t-really-know-who-i-am-as-an-actor-the-best-thing-would-be-to/)

[Ben Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-barnes/)

> [I love finding out-of-the-box inspirations and blending them with what I've done in the past. And when I started to experiment with genres, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avicii/i-love-finding-out-of-the-box-inspirations-and-blending-them-with/)

[Avicii](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avicii/)

> [In the Indian film industry, especially those of us who are in mainstream cinema, we invariably play a typical hero's role. More often than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-bachchan/in-the-indian-film-industry-especially-those-of-us-who-are-in/)

[Abhishek Bachchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-bachchan/)

> [In Spain, we mainly use red plum tomatoes, but it is always fun to experiment. Try using a mix of colors or substitute green…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-spain-we-mainly-use-red-plum-tomatoes-but-it-is-always-fun-to/)

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

> [All life is an experiment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-life-is-an-experiment/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [What will the greatest experiment discover? I have no idea!, maybe nothing!, If we won't check, we will never know. In science there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-seiberg/what-will-the-greatest-experiment-discover-i-have-no-idea-maybe/)

[Nathan Seiberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-seiberg/)

> [“Life is an experiment in which you may fail or succeed. Explore more, expect least.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santosh-kalwar/life-is-an-experiment-in-which-you-may-fail-or-succeed-explore-more/)

[Santosh Kalwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santosh-kalwar/)

> [. . . in the full tide of successful experiment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/in-the-full-tide-of-successful-experiment/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

> [The Vanguard Experiment was designed to prove that mutual funds could operate independently, and do so in a manner that would directly benefit their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-bogle/the-vanguard-experiment-was-designed-to-prove-that-mutual-funds-could/)

[John C. Bogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-bogle/)

[Browse all 668 Experiment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiment/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Nature holds no brief for the human experiment; it must stand or fall by its results.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "George Bernard Shaw"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/nature-holds-no-brief-for-the-human-experiment-it-must-stand-or-fall/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Experiment"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/nature-holds-no-brief-for-the-human-experiment-it-must-stand-or-fall/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bc/george-bernard-shaw-68_experiment_nature-holds-no-brief-for-the-human-expe_671848.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bc/george-bernard-shaw-68_experiment_nature-holds-no-brief-for-the-human-expe_671848.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2bc/george-bernard-shaw-68_experiment_nature-holds-no-brief-for-the-human-expe_671848.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Nature holds no brief for the human experiment; it must stand or fall by its results.” — George Bernard Shaw",
                "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": "George Bernard Shaw",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Nature holds no brief for the...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/nature-holds-no-brief-for-the-human-experiment-it-must-stand-or-fall/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/nature-holds-no-brief-for-the-human-experiment-it-must-stand-or-fall/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
