--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every intervention of man in the…" description: "\"Every intervention of man in the environment around him incurs some risk as to both favorable and unfavorable consequences. Every intervention is taken..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6c/gilbert-f-white-44907_consequence_every-intervention-of-man-in-the-environ_1943254.jpg" --- # Every intervention of man in the environment around him… ![“Every intervention of man in the environment around him incurs some risk as to both favorable and unfavorable consequences. Every intervention is taken in the face of partial ignorance as to what its effects will be and involves uncertainty as to the ultimate outcome.” quote by Gilbert F. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6c/gilbert-f-white-44907_consequence_every-intervention-of-man-in-the-environ_1943254.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6c/gilbert-f-white-44907_consequence_every-intervention-of-man-in-the-environ_1943254.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6c/gilbert-f-white-44907_consequence_every-intervention-of-man-in-the-environ_1943254.jpg) > “Every intervention of man in the environment around him incurs some risk as to both favorable and unfavorable consequences. Every intervention is taken in the face of partial ignorance as to what its effects will be and involves uncertainty as to the ultimate outcome.” [Gilbert F. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-f-white/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human actions affect the environment with uncertain outcomes, requiring cautious decision‑making. **In simple terms:** Human impact is uncertain and risky. Key Takeaway Act with humility and assess unknowns. Themes environment uncertainty responsibility Mood analytical cautious Type academic policy-oriented When to use this quote - urban planning - climate policy - resource extraction Key Concepts systems theory risk management Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance progress with ecological risk? - What information is essential before intervening? A Different Perspective Predicting complex systems is often impossible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consequence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence/) [Consequences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequences/) [Consequences Intervention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequences-intervention-3109785/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Effects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effects/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Environmental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Intervention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intervention/) [Involves Uncertainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/involves-uncertainty-3109784/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Outcomes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outcomes/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Ultimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ultimate/) [Uncertainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncertainty/) [Unfavorable Consequences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unfavorable-consequences-3109783/) ## Related quotes > [... an essential feature of a decent society, and an almost defining feature of a democratic society, is relative equality of outcome - not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/an-essential-feature-of-a-decent-society-and-an-almost-defining/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [A lot of science doesn't require big "ns" but if you're trying to understand something about human health and you're looking at interventions that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/a-lot-of-science-doesn-t-require-big-ns-but-if-you-re-trying-to/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [If you look across a host of measures at adoption studies, fraternal v. identical twin studies, twins-raised-apart studies, the history of early childhood intervention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-sailer/if-you-look-across-a-host-of-measures-at-adoption-studies-fraternal-v/) [Steve Sailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-sailer/) > [Excellent outcomes with much lower intervention rates are achieved at home births. This may be because the overuse of interventions in hospital births introduces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henci-goer/excellent-outcomes-with-much-lower-intervention-rates-are-achieved-at/) [Henci Goer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henci-goer/) > [Hunger and malnutrition have devastating consequences for children and have been linked to low birth weight and birth defects, obesity, mental and physical health…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-wright-edelman/hunger-and-malnutrition-have-devastating-consequences-for-children/) [Marian Wright Edelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-wright-edelman/) > [Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/every-coercive-monopoly-was-created-by-government-intervention-into/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Will capitalist economies operate at full employment in the absence of routine intervention? Certainly not. Are deviations from full employment a social problem? Obviously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-yellen/will-capitalist-economies-operate-at-full-employment-in-the-absence/) [Janet Yellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-yellen/) > [If you decide on having an alcoholic at your party, make sure it's a large gathering. This way, until the alcoholic begins removing their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/if-you-decide-on-having-an-alcoholic-at-your-party-make-sure-it-s-a/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [Candidate Trump held out his hand to Vladimir Putin. He rejected further U.S. intervention in Syria other than to smash ISIS.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/candidate-trump-held-out-his-hand-to-vladimir-putin-he-rejected/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [In 1953, the United States played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. The Eisenhower administration believed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-albright/in-1953-the-united-states-played-a-significant-role-in-orchestrating/) [Madeleine Albright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-albright/) > [The United States can certainly defeat North Vietnam, but the United States cannot defeat a guerrilla war which is being raged from a sanctuary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/the-united-states-can-certainly-defeat-north-vietnam-but-the-united/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [Every second the Universe divides into possibilities and most of those possibilities never happen. It is not a uni-verse -- there is more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/every-second-the-universe-divides-into-possibilities-and-most-of/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [An excessive preponderance of an idealistic mood is harmful to society: it creates daydreaming, political Don Quixotism, hope for heavenly intervention. This is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henryk-sienkiewicz/an-excessive-preponderance-of-an-idealistic-mood-is-harmful-to/) [Henryk Sienkiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henryk-sienkiewicz/) > [My motto is "Unite now, today if you can; fight if you must. But in every case avoid British intervention."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-motto-is-unite-now-today-if-you-can-fight-if-you-must-but-in-every/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I'm super-obsessed with 'Intervention.' I wrote a song about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/i-m-super-obsessed-with-intervention-i-wrote-a-song-about-it/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) ## More by Gilbert F. White > [The gap between the rich and poor is growing among and within most nations. The political and social effects of unequal location of energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-f-white/the-gap-between-the-rich-and-poor-is-growing-among-and-within-most/) [Gilbert F. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-f-white/) > [It would be rash to conclude that, on balance, the environment of the globe as a whole is either deteriorating or improving, or that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-f-white/it-would-be-rash-to-conclude-that-on-balance-the-environment-of-the/) [Gilbert F. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-f-white/) > [Floods are 'acts of God,' but flood losses are largely acts of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-f-white/floods-are-acts-of-god-but-flood-losses-are-largely-acts-of-man/) [Gilbert F. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-f-white/) > [Both group effort and individual testimony flow from conviction as to the role of people on earth. In stewardship of the common heritage, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-f-white/both-group-effort-and-individual-testimony-flow-from-conviction-as-to/) [Gilbert F. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-f-white/) > [The issue of world environment has a special kind of urgency... The issue is one of rich peoples and poor peoples, of the growing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-f-white/the-issue-of-world-environment-has-a-special-kind-of-urgency-the/) [Gilbert F. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-f-white/) > [The good news about fresh water is that, even after accounting for the larger volume of water that is unavailable to people from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-f-white/the-good-news-about-fresh-water-is-that-even-after-accounting-for-the/) [Gilbert F. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-f-white/) > [One effect of benefit-cost analysis is to give any respectable engineer or economist a means for justifying almost any kind of project the national…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-f-white/one-effect-of-benefit-cost-analysis-is-to-give-any-respectable/) [Gilbert F. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-f-white/) > [We can be confident that action which is in accord with a few basic beliefs cannot be wrong and can at least testify to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-f-white/we-can-be-confident-that-action-which-is-in-accord-with-a-few-basic/) [Gilbert F. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-f-white/) [Explore all 9 Gilbert F. White quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-f-white/) ## More Consequence quotes > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [The world's problems are, by and large, human problems-the unavoidable consequence of egoic sleepwalking. If we care to look, all the signs are present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adyashanti/the-world-s-problems-are-by-and-large-human-problems-the-unavoidable/) [Adyashanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adyashanti/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [When the first Superman movie came out I was frequently asked "What is a hero?" ...My answer was that a hero is someone who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/when-the-first-superman-movie-came-out-i-was-frequently-asked-what-is/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > [It's easy to make mistakes. It's living with the consequences of them that's the hardest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/it-s-easy-to-make-mistakes-it-s-living-with-the-consequences-of-them/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Actions have consequences... first rule of life. And the second rule is this - you are the only one responsible for your own actions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/actions-have-consequences-first-rule-of-life-and-the-second-rule-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The contempt for law and the contempt for the human consequences of lawbreaking go from the bottom to the top of American society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-contempt-for-law-and-the-contempt-for-the-human-consequences-of/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Cultivate the habit of thinking ahead, and of anticipating the necessary and immediate consequences of all your actions… Likewise in your pleasures, ask yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/cultivate-the-habit-of-thinking-ahead-and-of-anticipating-the/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [There is no silver bullet. There are always options and the options have consequences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-horowitz/there-is-no-silver-bullet-there-are-always-options-and-the-options/) [Ben Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-horowitz/) > [“Each day I learn that every single action we take has its own consequence – for either good or bad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginny-dye/each-day-i-learn-that-every-single-action-we-take-has-its-own/) [Ginny Dye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginny-dye/) > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [If you wish to be a lawyer, attach no consequence to the place you are in, or the person you are with; but get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/if-you-wish-to-be-a-lawyer-attach-no-consequence-to-the-place-you-are/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Any kind of restrictions put on free speech would have worse consequences than bullying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-starlight/any-kind-of-restrictions-put-on-free-speech-would-have-worse/) [Lady Starlight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-starlight/) > [So, I'm not the only one who believes that there is such a thing as "the law of gravity," and if it's a law,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-comfort/so-i-m-not-the-only-one-who-believes-that-there-is-such-a-thing-as/) [Ray Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-comfort/) > [The average American expends more time becoming informed about choosing a car than choosing a candidate. But, then, the consequences of the former choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/the-average-american-expends-more-time-becoming-informed-about/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) [Browse all 3,099 Consequence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Every intervention of man in the environment around him incurs some risk as to both favorable and unfavorable consequences. Every intervention is taken in the face of partial ignorance as to what its effects will be and involves uncertainty as to the ultimate outcome.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gilbert F. White" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-f-white/every-intervention-of-man-in-the-environment-around-him-incurs-some/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Consequence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-f-white/every-intervention-of-man-in-the-environment-around-him-incurs-some/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6c/gilbert-f-white-44907_consequence_every-intervention-of-man-in-the-environ_1943254.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6c/gilbert-f-white-44907_consequence_every-intervention-of-man-in-the-environ_1943254.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6c/gilbert-f-white-44907_consequence_every-intervention-of-man-in-the-environ_1943254.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Every intervention of man in the environment around him incurs some risk as to both favorable and…” — Gilbert F. White", "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": "Gilbert F. White", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-f-white/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Every intervention of man in the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-f-white/every-intervention-of-man-in-the-environment-around-him-incurs-some/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-f-white/every-intervention-of-man-in-the-environment-around-him-incurs-some/#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 } } ] } ```