--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: New York is where it is going to begin, I…" description: "\"New York is where it is going to begin, I think. You can see it coming. The insect experts have learned how it works with locusts. Until locust populat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/john-d-macdonald-8277_bumps_new-york-is-where-it-is-going-to-begin-i_2901575.jpg" --- # New York is where it is going to begin, I think. You can… ![“New York is where it is going to begin, I think. You can see it coming. The insect experts have learned how it works with locusts. Until locust population reaches a certain density, they all act like any grasshoppers. When the critical point is reached, they turn savage and swarm, and try to eat…” quote by John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/john-d-macdonald-8277_bumps_new-york-is-where-it-is-going-to-begin-i_2901575.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/john-d-macdonald-8277_bumps_new-york-is-where-it-is-going-to-begin-i_2901575.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/john-d-macdonald-8277_bumps_new-york-is-where-it-is-going-to-begin-i_2901575.jpg) > “New York is where it is going to begin, I think. You can see it coming. The insect experts have learned how it works with locusts. Until locust population reaches a certain density, they all act like any grasshoppers. When the critical point is reached, they turn savage and swarm, and try to eat the world. We're nearing a critical point. One day soon two strangers will bump into each other at high noon in the middle of New York. But this time they won't snarl and go on. They will stop and stare and then leap at each others” [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societal change can be likened to locust swarms: gradual buildup leads to sudden, overwhelming transformation. **In simple terms:** Society can change suddenly after a tipping point. Key Takeaway Watch for early signs of change. Themes change society critical mass Mood foreboding reflective Type analytical warning When to use this quote - urban planning - policy making - social movements Key Concepts ecology metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What signs indicate an approaching tipping point? - How can we prepare for rapid societal shifts? A Different Perspective Predicting the exact moment of change is difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bumps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bumps/) [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Coming Insect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coming-insect-4129202/) [Critical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/critical/) [Density](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/density/) [Experts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experts/) [Goes on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goes-on/) [Grasshoppers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grasshoppers/) [Grasshoppers Critical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grasshoppers-critical-4129203/) [Insects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insects/) [Leap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leap/) [Like Grasshoppers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-grasshoppers-2512659/) [Locusts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/locusts/) [Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle/) [New york](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-york/) [Noon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noon/) [One day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-day/) [Population](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/population/) [Savages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/savages/) [Staring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/staring/) [Stranger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger/) [Swarms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swarms/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Works Locusts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-locusts-4129204/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Chiefs who no more in bloody fights engage, But wise through time, and narrative with age, In summer-days like grasshoppers rejoice - A bloodless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/chiefs-who-no-more-in-bloody-fights-engage-but-wise-through-time-and/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [When a man makes alliance with the Almighty, giants look like grasshoppers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/when-a-man-makes-alliance-with-the-almighty-giants-look-like/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [Twere better far That gods should quaff their nectar merrily, And men sing out the day like grasshoppers, So may they haply lull the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/twere-better-far-that-gods-should-quaff-their-nectar-merrily-and-men/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [As I stepped to the stage to pick up my degree, and the locusts sang off in the distance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/as-i-stepped-to-the-stage-to-pick-up-my-degree-and-the-locusts-sang/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [“Cicadas,” Craw said. “Also known as locusts. Or, as John the Baptist would say, lunch.” I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-torode/cicadas-craw-said-also-known-as-locusts-or-as-john-the-baptist-would/) [Sam Torode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-torode/) > [the scythers, Time and Death, Helmed locusts, move upon the tree of breath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/the-scythers-time-and-death-helmed-locusts-move-upon-the-tree-of/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [The weary August days are long; The locusts sing a plaintive song, The cattle miss their master's call When they see the sunset shadows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/the-weary-august-days-are-long-the-locusts-sing-a-plaintive-song-the/) [Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/) > [From the great trees the locusts cry In quavering ecstatic duo-a boy Shouts a wild call-a mourning dove In the blue distance sobs-the wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamlin-garland/from-the-great-trees-the-locusts-cry-in-quavering-ecstatic-duo-a-boy/) [Hamlin Garland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamlin-garland/) > [“out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-m-chiron/out-of-the-smoke-locusts-came-down-on-the-earth-and-were-given-power/) [Joseph M. Chiron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-m-chiron/) > [“Without the world noticing, the locusts of common, criminal violence are right now ravaging the lives and dreams of billions of our poorest neighbors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-a-haugen/without-the-world-noticing-the-locusts-of-common-criminal-violence/) [Gary A. Haugen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-a-haugen/) > [“Revelation, Charlie explained, predicted that locusts would come, and locusts were, of course, beetles—the Beatles. John said that the locusts would have “scales like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-guinn/revelation-charlie-explained-predicted-that-locusts-would-come-and/) [Jeff Guinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-guinn/) > [“the thick stream of air hauled toward the summits first the great horses of noise reared against the sky then sluggishly the great limp…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aime-cesaire/the-thick-stream-of-air-hauled-toward-the-summits-first-the-great/) [Aimé Césaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aime-cesaire/) > [“however, while the gnats were swarming like locusts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-lorson/however-while-the-gnats-were-swarming-like-locusts/) [M.F. Lorson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-lorson/) > [“All that was ordered and stable is shaken. The Æon of Wonders is come. Like locusts shall they gather themselves together, the servants of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/all-that-was-ordered-and-stable-is-shaken-the-on-of-wonders-is-come/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Albert and I would spend hours and hours looking at them. Cleo had this big magnifying glass on his desk, and we'd find centipedes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/albert-and-i-would-spend-hours-and-hours-looking-at-them-cleo-had/) [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) ## More by John D. MacDonald > [“Please not yet. Those are the three eternal words. Please not yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/please-not-yet-those-are-the-three-eternal-words-please-not-yet/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [...it isn't foolish or wicked to enjoy. Wickedness is hurting people on purpose. I love what you are and who you are and how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/it-isn-t-foolish-or-wicked-to-enjoy-wickedness-is-hurting-people-on/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [“Ask for two, and they give you the third free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/ask-for-two-and-they-give-you-the-third-free/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [“It was to have been a quiet evening at home.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/it-was-to-have-been-a-quiet-evening-at-home/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [Now it stands to reason, mister, any damn fool stares into the sun long enough, he'll end up seeing exactly what some other damn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/now-it-stands-to-reason-mister-any-damn-fool-stares-into-the-sun-long/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [You have to start knowing yourself so well that you begin to know other people. A piece of us is in every person we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/you-have-to-start-knowing-yourself-so-well-that-you-begin-to-know/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [“Victims, he thought, were birds and animals and people who arrived at the wrong place at the wrong time, usually in too big a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/victims-he-thought-were-birds-and-animals-and-people-who-arrived-at/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [ The dividing line \[between friends and acquaintances\] is communication, I think. A friend is someone to whom you can say any jackass thing that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/the-dividing-line-between-friends-and-acquaintances-is-communication/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [I want story, wit, music, wryness, color, and a sense of reality in what I read, and I try to get it in what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/i-want-story-wit-music-wryness-color-and-a-sense-of-reality-in-what-i/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [ \[To\] me organized religion, the formalities and routines, \[is\] like being marched in formation to look at a sunset. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/to-me-organized-religion-the-formalities-and-routines-is-like-being/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [Old friend, there are people—young and old—that I like, and people that I do not like. The former are always in short supply. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/old-friend-there-are-people-young-and-old-that-i-like-and-people-that/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [Way over half the murders committed in this country are by close friends or relatives of the deceased. A gun makes a loud and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/way-over-half-the-murders-committed-in-this-country-are-by-close/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [“Bugs would eat the wax. Chaw the old canvas. And one day there will be a mutation, and we will have new ones that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/bugs-would-eat-the-wax-chaw-the-old-canvas-and-one-day-there-will-be/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [“...her dark eyes were like twin entrances to two deep caves. Nothing lived in those caves. Maybe something had, once upon a time. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/her-dark-eyes-were-like-twin-entrances-to-two-deep-caves-nothing/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [“She went inside and watched him walk back toward sixteen,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/she-went-inside-and-watched-him-walk-back-toward-sixteen/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) [Explore all 80 John D. MacDonald quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) ## More Bumps quotes > [His fingertips slid down from my face, lightly stroking the line of my neck, down toward my shoulder. Everywhere he touched, a trail of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/his-fingertips-slid-down-from-my-face-lightly-stroking-the-line-of-my/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [No matter what. Wherever your mind wanders, it seems to turn up at the same Field of Dreams. 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We lost some tournaments due to a combination of things led by the downturn in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hollis-stacy/women-s-golf-definitely-hit-a-bump-in-the-road-we-lost-some/) [Hollis Stacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hollis-stacy/) > [I've always been more afraid of being left alone or left out than of things that go bump in the night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-gidding/i-ve-always-been-more-afraid-of-being-left-alone-or-left-out-than-of/) [Nelson Gidding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-gidding/) > [...but I preferred reading the American landscape as we went along. Every bump, rise, and stretch in it mystified my longing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/but-i-preferred-reading-the-american-landscape-as-we-went-along-every/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/here-is-edward-bear-coming-downstairs-now-bump-bump-bump-on-the-back/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have no doubt that there will continue to be bumps, some serious crises indeed in our relationship with China… Neither membership in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-patrick-moynihan/i-have-no-doubt-that-there-will-continue-to-be-bumps-some-serious/) [Daniel Patrick Moynihan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-patrick-moynihan/) > [I love life, and I have a lot of gratitude. There have been a lot of bumps in the road, but my sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-morrison/i-love-life-and-i-have-a-lot-of-gratitude-there-have-been-a-lot-of/) [Shelley Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-morrison/) > [Be fearless. Have the courage to take risks. Go where there are no guarantees. 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