--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The world we know at present is in no fit…" description: "\"The world we know at present is in no fit state to take over the dreariest little meteor ... If we have the courage and patience, the energy and skill,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fb/j-b-priestley-9291_civilization_the-world-we-know-at-present-is-in-no-fi_1245625.png" --- # The world we know at present is in no fit state to take… ![“The world we know at present is in no fit state to take over the dreariest little meteor ... If we have the courage and patience, the energy and skill, to take us voyaging to other planets, then let us use some of these to tidy up and civilize this earth. One world at a time, please.” quote by J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fb/j-b-priestley-9291_civilization_the-world-we-know-at-present-is-in-no-fi_1245625.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fb/j-b-priestley-9291_civilization_the-world-we-know-at-present-is-in-no-fi_1245625.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fb/j-b-priestley-9291_civilization_the-world-we-know-at-present-is-in-no-fi_1245625.png) > “The world we know at present is in no fit state to take over the dreariest little meteor ... If we have the courage and patience, the energy and skill, to take us voyaging to other planets, then let us use some of these to tidy up and civilize this earth. One world at a time, please.” [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human progress requires courage, patience, skill, and energy to explore space and improve Earth, one step at a time. **In simple terms:** Exploration and stewardship go hand in hand. Key Takeaway Invest in science and responsible stewardship. Themes exploration environment humanity Mood hopeful serious Type philosophical visionary When to use this quote - government policy - education - private sector research - international cooperation Key Concepts sustainability space travel technological innovation Questions to Reflect On - What responsibilities do we have to Earth while exploring space? - How can we balance ambition with sustainability? A Different Perspective Resources are limited; priorities may conflict. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Skills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skills/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-earth-is-the-only-world-known-so-far-to-harbor-life-there-is/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Middle-earth is our world. I have (of course) placed the action in a purely imaginary (though not wholly impossible) period of antiquity, in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/middle-earth-is-our-world-i-have-of-course-placed-the-action-in-a/) [J. R. R. 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Earth leads directly into Heaven or directly into Hell, affording a choice between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-alcorn/earth-is-a-in-between-world-touched-by-both-heaven-and-hell-earth/) [Randy Alcorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-alcorn/) > [“From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of particular interest. But for us, it's different. Consider again that dot. That's here,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/from-this-distant-vantage-point-the-earth-might-not-seem-of/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“The Earth is the only world known so far to harbour life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-earth-is-the-only-world-known-so-far-to-harbour-life-there-is/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Men may perish, but the world will neither celebrate nor mourn. It will go on.' His smile thinned. 'Would you like to know how?'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/men-may-perish-but-the-world-will-neither-celebrate-nor-mourn-it-will/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [They are so confident that they will run on forever. But they won't run on. They don't know that this is all one huge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/they-are-so-confident-that-they-will-run-on-forever-but-they-won-t/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Falling stars are high examples sent To warn, not lure. Gross fancy says they are Substantial meteors; but that is not so. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-austin/falling-stars-are-high-examples-sent-to-warn-not-lure-gross-fancy/) [Alfred Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-austin/) > [Lights come and go in the night sky. Men, troubled at last by the things they build, may toss in their sleep and dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/lights-come-and-go-in-the-night-sky-men-troubled-at-last-by-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [But to carve the Grand Canyon, Earth required millions of years. To excavate Meteor Crater, the universe, using a sixty-thousand-ton asteroid traveling upward of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/but-to-carve-the-grand-canyon-earth-required-millions-of-years-to/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The night is falling down around us. Meteors rain like fireworks, quick rips in the seam of the dark... Every second, another streak of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/the-night-is-falling-down-around-us-meteors-rain-like-fireworks-quick/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [Meslier was the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the meteors fatal to the Christian religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/meslier-was-the-most-singular-phenomenon-ever-seen-among-all-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More by J. B. Priestley > [In a world shaped and colored more and more by politicians, the nations meet politically, and hardly any other way to settle their differences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/in-a-world-shaped-and-colored-more-and-more-by-politicians-the/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [Many a man is praised for his reserve and so-called shyness when he is simply too proud to risk making a fool of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/many-a-man-is-praised-for-his-reserve-and-so-called-shyness-when-he/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [To make the most of Christmas, focus on Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/to-make-the-most-of-christmas-focus-on-christ/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [A novelist who writes nothing for 10 years finds his reputation rising. Because I keep on producing books they say there must be something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/a-novelist-who-writes-nothing-for-10-years-finds-his-reputation/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [To show a child what once delighted you, to find the child's delight added to your own - this is happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/to-show-a-child-what-once-delighted-you-to-find-the-child-s-delight/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/the-first-fall-of-snow-is-not-only-an-event-it-is-a-magical-event-you/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [I fancy that the Hell of Too Many People would occupy a respectable place in the hierarchy of infernal regions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/i-fancy-that-the-hell-of-too-many-people-would-occupy-a-respectable/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [It is good fiction, so largely ignored now, that brings us so much closer to the real facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/it-is-good-fiction-so-largely-ignored-now-that-brings-us-so-much/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/i-have-always-been-delighted-at-the-prospect-of-a-new-day-a-fresh-try/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [Perhaps it would be better not to be a writer, but if you must, then write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/perhaps-it-would-be-better-not-to-be-a-writer-but-if-you-must-then/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [What a grand, higgledy-piggledy, sensible old place Norwich is!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/what-a-grand-higgledy-piggledy-sensible-old-place-norwich-is/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [Man, the creature who knows he must die, who has dreams larger than his destiny, who is forever working a confidence trick on himself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/man-the-creature-who-knows-he-must-die-who-has-dreams-larger-than-his/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [There are plenty of clever young writers. But there is too much genius, not enough talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/there-are-plenty-of-clever-young-writers-but-there-is-too-much-genius/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [If you are a genius, you'll make your own rules, but if not - and the odds are against it - go to your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/if-you-are-a-genius-you-ll-make-your-own-rules-but-if-not-and-the/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [But some of us are beginning to pull well away, in our irritation, from...the exquisite tasters, the vintage snobs, the three-star Michelin gourmets. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/but-some-of-us-are-beginning-to-pull-well-away-in-our-irritation-from/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) [Explore all 73 J. B. Priestley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) [Browse all 4,084 Civilization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The world we know at present is in no fit state to take over the dreariest little meteor ... If we have the courage and patience, the energy and skill, to take us voyaging to other planets, then let us use some of these to tidy up and civilize this earth. One world at a time, please.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J. B. 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