--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everything we do these days - our lust…" description: "\"Everything we do these days - our lust for ever more comfort, pleasure, and distraction, our refusal to engage with the mandates of reality, our fideli..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6e/james-howard-kunstler-2886_abandon_everything-we-do-these-days-our-lust-for_320356.png" --- # Everything we do these days - our lust for ever more… ![“Everything we do these days - our lust for ever more comfort, pleasure, and distraction, our refusal to engage with the mandates of reality, our fidelity to cults of technology and limitless growth, our narcissistic national exceptionalism - all of this propels us toward the realm where souls…” quote by James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6e/james-howard-kunstler-2886_abandon_everything-we-do-these-days-our-lust-for_320356.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6e/james-howard-kunstler-2886_abandon_everything-we-do-these-days-our-lust-for_320356.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6e/james-howard-kunstler-2886_abandon_everything-we-do-these-days-our-lust-for_320356.png) > “Everything we do these days - our lust for ever more comfort, pleasure, and distraction, our refusal to engage with the mandates of reality, our fidelity to cults of technology and limitless growth, our narcissistic national exceptionalism - all of this propels us toward the realm where souls abandon all hope.” [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our pursuit of comfort and endless growth blinds us, leading to despair as humanity loses hope. **In simple terms:** Comfort and endless growth cause despair. Key Takeaway Re‑evaluate priorities, seek sustainable living. Themes environment technology hope despair Mood critical urgent Type philosophical environmental When to use this quote - urban planning - policy making - personal lifestyle changes - education on limits Key Concepts sustainability consumerism cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - What comforts are worth sacrificing? - How can societies shift from endless growth? A Different Perspective Hope can be restored through collective action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) [Cults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cults/) [Distraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distraction/) [Fidelity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fidelity/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Limitless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitless/) [Lust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lust/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Souls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/souls/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) ## Related quotes > [For far too long we have been seduced into walking a path that did not lead us to ourselves. For far too long we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/for-far-too-long-we-have-been-seduced-into-walking-a-path-that-did/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [When I look in the mirror, I see a woman with secrets. When we don’t listen to our intuition, we abandon our souls. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/when-i-look-in-the-mirror-i-see-a-woman-with-secrets-when-we-don-t/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [“We were alone here. We had always been alone here. When we died and rid ourselves of our meaningless existences, we would die alone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-sheehan/we-were-alone-here-we-had-always-been-alone-here-when-we-died-and-rid/) [Madeline Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-sheehan/) > [The public realm in America has two roles: it is the dwelling place of our civilization and our civic life, and it is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/the-public-realm-in-america-has-two-roles-it-is-the-dwelling-place-of/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [We're not going to reform our moronic land-use laws, which mandate suburban sprawl one way or another. They're simply going to be ignored when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/we-re-not-going-to-reform-our-moronic-land-use-laws-which-mandate/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [The increment of new development will be the single building lot, if we are lucky, and most of the codes that are now enforced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/the-increment-of-new-development-will-be-the-single-building-lot-if/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [“The fierce poet of the Middle Ages wrote, "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here," over the gates of the lower world. The emancipated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-fierce-poet-of-the-middle-ages-wrote-abandon-hope-all-ye-who/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [The hard part about living in the present is it forces you to abandon hope for the future. Thanks for nothing, now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gould/the-hard-part-about-living-in-the-present-is-it-forces-you-to-abandon/) [Dana Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gould/) > [Abandon every hope, you who enter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/abandon-every-hope-you-who-enter/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [“Abandon hope, all ye who enter here”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-cremer/abandon-hope-all-ye-who-enter-here/) [Andrea Cremer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-cremer/) > [“Try never to abandon hope for if you do, hope will surely try to abandon you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-brampton/try-never-to-abandon-hope-for-if-you-do-hope-will-surely-try-to/) [Sally Brampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-brampton/) > [Abandon any such hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/abandon-any-such-hope/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Do we ever have to abandon all hope? Is it not perhaps a good thing that by refusing to give in to the evidence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-monod/do-we-ever-have-to-abandon-all-hope-is-it-not-perhaps-a-good-thing/) Theodore Monod > [Ultimately, we must either abandon our reliance on stop and search or abandon any hope for a criminal justice system grounded in equality, impartiality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lammy/ultimately-we-must-either-abandon-our-reliance-on-stop-and-search-or/) [David Lammy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lammy/) > [“One thing I know is true. Try never to abandon hope for if you do, hope will surely try to abandon you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-brampton/one-thing-i-know-is-true-try-never-to-abandon-hope-for-if-you-do-hope/) [Sally Brampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-brampton/) ## More by James Howard Kunstler > [ The ideas of \[ Le Corbusier \] that actually found their way into practice were deeply destructive - for instance, the tower-in-a-park, which mutated… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/the-ideas-of-le-corbusier-that-actually-found-their-way-into-practice/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [ “On my way out of \[Atlantic City\] at quarter after seven in the morning, a young pump jockey at the gas station \[...\] mentioned… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/on-my-way-out-of-atlantic-city-at-quarter-after-seven-in-the-morning/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [Ahead now, I think you'll see the big nations shrink back into their own corners of the world. 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Our failure is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/what-we-face-is-a-comprehensive-contraction-of-our-activities-due-to/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [We're living in a culture that doesn't believe in decorating buildings, or proportioning them properly. And they don't know how to do it anymore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/we-re-living-in-a-culture-that-doesn-t-believe-in-decorating/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [Because I believe a lot of people share my feelings about the tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots, housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/because-i-believe-a-lot-of-people-share-my-feelings-about-the-tragic/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [No amount or combination of alternative fuels is going to allow us to continue running what we're running, the way we're running it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/no-amount-or-combination-of-alternative-fuels-is-going-to-allow-us-to/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [There's a lot of wishful thinking that somehow we'll replace fossil fuels with alternative energy sources, but they remain far from reality. 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I just think it's a fantasy, especially considering China's energy predicament and their coal supplies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/i-m-not-against-kyoto-i-just-think-it-s-a-fantasy-especially/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [The American house has been TV-centered for three generations. 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To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) Kenan Malik > [The purpose of a spirit filled life is to demonstrate the supernatural power of our living God so that the unsaved multitudes will abandon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-l-osborn/the-purpose-of-a-spirit-filled-life-is-to-demonstrate-the/) [T.L. Osborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-l-osborn/) > [However, however, if the goal is to abandon America's free enterprise economy, if the goal is to convert America into a submissive member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/however-however-if-the-goal-is-to-abandon-america-s-free-enterprise/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [I would leave at once, but it would be cruel to abandon a lady in a foreign land with a maniac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-would-leave-at-once-but-it-would-be-cruel-to-abandon-a-lady-in-a/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [When we fall utterly, something gathers us up. But our falling must be without reservation, without expectation, without hope, though not hopeless. You cant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-fall-utterly-something-gathers-us-up-but-our-falling-must-be/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [every subjective phenomenon is essentially connected with a single point of view, and it seems inevitable that an objective, physical theory will abandon that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/every-subjective-phenomenon-is-essentially-connected-with-a-single/) [Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/) > [Can you dissolve your ego? Can you abandon the idea of self and other? Can you relinquish the notions of male and female, short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/can-you-dissolve-your-ego-can-you-abandon-the-idea-of-self-and-other/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Every great thing starts with an idea, followed by a doubt and finally a resolve to abandon or pursue. Victory is a treacherous journey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/every-great-thing-starts-with-an-idea-followed-by-a-doubt-and-finally/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/those-who-have-been-once-intoxicated-with-power-and-have-derived-any/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Do not lose hope; St. Joseph also experienced moments of difficulty, but he never lost faith and was able to overcome them, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/do-not-lose-hope-st-joseph-also-experienced-moments-of-difficulty-but/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. 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I like being taken to the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhys-ifans/i-ve-been-to-unpretty-places-with-the-roles-i-ve-played-and-i-m/) [Rhys Ifans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhys-ifans/) Browse all 1,142 Abandon quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everything we do these days - our lust for ever more comfort, pleasure, and distraction, our refusal to engage with the mandates of reality, our fidelity to cults of technology and limitless growth, our narcissistic national exceptionalism - all of this propels us toward the realm where souls abandon all hope.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Howard Kunstler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/everything-we-do-these-days-our-lust-for-ever-more-comfort-pleasure/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abandon" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/everything-we-do-these-days-our-lust-for-ever-more-comfort-pleasure/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6e/james-howard-kunstler-2886_abandon_everything-we-do-these-days-our-lust-for_320356.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6e/james-howard-kunstler-2886_abandon_everything-we-do-these-days-our-lust-for_320356.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a6e/james-howard-kunstler-2886_abandon_everything-we-do-these-days-our-lust-for_320356.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everything we do these days - our lust for ever more comfort, pleasure, and distraction, our refusal to…” — James Howard Kunstler", "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": "James Howard Kunstler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Everything we do these days -...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/everything-we-do-these-days-our-lust-for-ever-more-comfort-pleasure/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/everything-we-do-these-days-our-lust-for-ever-more-comfort-pleasure/#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 } } ] } ```