--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I saw that this cataclysm must be an…" description: "\"“I saw that this cataclysm must be an expiation for some barbarous crime of civilization, some terrible human lie. What the lie was, I had too little k..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/john-fowles-816_cataclysm_i-saw-that-this-cataclysm-must-be-an-exp_1808031.jpg" --- # I saw that this cataclysm must be an expiation for some… ![“I saw that this cataclysm must be an expiation for some barbarous crime of civilization, some terrible human lie. What the lie was, I had too little knowledge of history or science to know then. I know now it was our believing that we were fulfilling some end, serving some plan - that all would…” quote by John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/john-fowles-816_cataclysm_i-saw-that-this-cataclysm-must-be-an-exp_1808031.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/john-fowles-816_cataclysm_i-saw-that-this-cataclysm-must-be-an-exp_1808031.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/john-fowles-816_cataclysm_i-saw-that-this-cataclysm-must-be-an-exp_1808031.jpg) > ““I saw that this cataclysm must be an expiation for some barbarous crime of civilization, some terrible human lie. What the lie was, I had too little knowledge of history or science to know then. I know now it was our believing that we were fulfilling some end, serving some plan - that all would come out well in the end, because there was some great plan over all. Instead of the reality. There is no plan. All is hazard. And the only thing that will preserve us is ourselves.”” [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator rejects the idea of a grand plan, seeing history as chaotic and emphasizing human responsibility for survival. **In simple terms:** There is no grand plan; humans must protect themselves. Key Takeaway Accept chaos, take responsibility for survival. Themes chaos human agency history responsibility Mood cautious thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - political activism - environmental stewardship - community building - personal ethics Key Concepts Existentialism nihilism self‑reliance Questions to Reflect On - How do you act responsibly amid uncertainty? - What does “all is hazard” mean for your choices? A Different Perspective Optimism about a predetermined destiny can be misleading. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cataclysm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cataclysm/) [Cataclysm Expiation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cataclysm-expiation-2090552/) [Expiation Barbarous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expiation-barbarous-2090553/) [Human Lie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-lie-2090551/) [Life-plan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-plan-2/) [Little knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-knowledge/) [Saw Cataclysm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saw-cataclysm-2090550/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [“A human would lie on the ground sobbing. 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It is akin to charting an elaborate vacation itinerary before arriving at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/not-accomplishing-your-life-plan-is-a-tragic-act-of-free-will-it-is/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [“Intuition goes before you, showing you the way. Emotion follows behind, to let you know when you go astray. Listen to your inner voice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/intuition-goes-before-you-showing-you-the-way-emotion-follows-behind/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [As the idea imparted by the term Cataclysm, Catastrophe, or Revolution, is extremely vague, and may comprehend any thing you choose to imagine, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-julius-poulett-scrope/as-the-idea-imparted-by-the-term-cataclysm-catastrophe-or-revolution/) [George Julius Poulett Scrope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-julius-poulett-scrope/) > [I don't think I'm the only person who sees a cataclysm coming, but I think I'm the only person saying it, and I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-sol-invictus/i-don-t-think-i-m-the-only-person-who-sees-a-cataclysm-coming-but-i/) [Augustus Sol Invictus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-sol-invictus/) > [“Many think they play the last act. With life in turmoil, they seem to live the setup of a shattering countdown. To an insistent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/many-think-they-play-the-last-act-with-life-in-turmoil-they-seem-to/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [“Something very beautiful happens to people when their world has fallen apart: a humility, a nobility, a higher intelligence emerges at just the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/something-very-beautiful-happens-to-people-when-their-world-has/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) ## More by John Fowles > [I am infinitely strange to myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/i-am-infinitely-strange-to-myself/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [I do not plan my fiction any more than I normally plan woodland walks; I follow the path that seems most promising at any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/i-do-not-plan-my-fiction-any-more-than-i-normally-plan-woodland-walks/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“The sky is absolutely empty. Beautifully pure and empty. As if the architects and builders would live in all the houses they built! Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-sky-is-absolutely-empty-beautifully-pure-and-empty-as-if-the/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“The evolution of human mentality has put us all in vitro now, behind the glass wall of our own ingenuity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-evolution-of-human-mentality-has-put-us-all-in-vitro-now-behind/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [Most marriages recognize this paradox: Passion destroys passion; we want what puts an end to wanting what we want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/most-marriages-recognize-this-paradox-passion-destroys-passion-we/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [That is the great distinction between the sexes. Men see objects, women see the relationships between objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/that-is-the-great-distinction-between-the-sexes-men-see-objects-women/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [The craving to risk death is our last great perversion. We come from night, we go into night. Why live in night?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-craving-to-risk-death-is-our-last-great-perversion-we-come-from/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [There is only one good definition of God: the freedom that allows other freedoms to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/there-is-only-one-good-definition-of-god-the-freedom-that-allows/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [They looked down on her; and she looked up through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/they-looked-down-on-her-and-she-looked-up-through-them/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“Long afterwards I realized why some men, racing drivers and their like, become addicted to speed. There are those of us who never see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/long-afterwards-i-realized-why-some-men-racing-drivers-and-their-like/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [The best wines take the longest to mature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-best-wines-take-the-longest-to-mature/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [But however good you get at translating personality into line or paint it's no go if your personality isn't worth translating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/but-however-good-you-get-at-translating-personality-into-line-or/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“Liking other people is an illusion we have to cherish in ourselves if we are to live in society. It”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/liking-other-people-is-an-illusion-we-have-to-cherish-in-ourselves-if/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [Do you know that every great thing in the history of art and every beautiful thing in life is actually what you call nasty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/do-you-know-that-every-great-thing-in-the-history-of-art-and-every/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“Yet this distance, all those abysses unbridged and then unbridgeable by radio, television, cheap travel and the rest, was not wholly bad. People knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/yet-this-distance-all-those-abysses-unbridged-and-then-unbridgeable/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) [Explore all 341 John Fowles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) ## More Cataclysm quotes > [“Something very beautiful happens to people when their world has fallen apart: a humility, a nobility, a higher intelligence emerges at just the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/something-very-beautiful-happens-to-people-when-their-world-has/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [“Many think they play the last act. With life in turmoil, they seem to live the setup of a shattering countdown. To an insistent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/many-think-they-play-the-last-act-with-life-in-turmoil-they-seem-to/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [I don't think I'm the only person who sees a cataclysm coming, but I think I'm the only person saying it, and I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-sol-invictus/i-don-t-think-i-m-the-only-person-who-sees-a-cataclysm-coming-but-i/) [Augustus Sol Invictus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-sol-invictus/) > [As the idea imparted by the term Cataclysm, Catastrophe, or Revolution, is extremely vague, and may comprehend any thing you choose to imagine, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-julius-poulett-scrope/as-the-idea-imparted-by-the-term-cataclysm-catastrophe-or-revolution/) [George Julius Poulett Scrope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-julius-poulett-scrope/) > [Mama Nature is kinda good, but does spank he who plays tricks on her!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-malfatti/mama-nature-is-kinda-good-but-does-spank-he-who-plays-tricks-on-her/) [Jean-Paul Malfatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-malfatti/) > [“It was a great fucking time, the short era of disaster euphoria, for nothing enhances pleasures and blocks guilt like a looming cataclysm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/it-was-a-great-fucking-time-the-short-era-of-disaster-euphoria-for/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [ “Then there's the pillar statue in the semi-subterranean temple at Tiahuanaco \[Bolivia\]. Like the Totem Pole of Göbekli Tepe, it is anthropomorphic. Like the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/then-there-s-the-pillar-statue-in-the-semi-subterranean-temple-at/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically. The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins, we start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ours-is-essentially-a-tragic-age-so-we-refuse-to-take-it-tragically-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“One could imagine that a group of anthropologists and scientists sent off to study a previously uncontacted Amazon tribe today might be bound by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/one-could-imagine-that-a-group-of-anthropologists-and-scientists-sent/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [We have to ask if it is once again the summer of 1914. Small acts of terror in the Middle East, in South Asia,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-patrick-moynihan/we-have-to-ask-if-it-is-once-again-the-summer-of-1914-small-acts-of/) [Daniel Patrick Moynihan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-patrick-moynihan/) > [Every cataclysm is welcomed by somebody; there is always someone to rejoice at disaster and see in it the prospect of a new beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-pears/every-cataclysm-is-welcomed-by-somebody-there-is-always-someone-to/) [Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-pears/) > [My mind is filled with cataclysm and apocalypse. I wish for earthquakes, eruptions, flood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/my-mind-is-filled-with-cataclysm-and-apocalypse-i-wish-for/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [ What's it called when a hellhole hits a cataclysm? A catastro\[phrack\]. I just coined that, didn't I? ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/what-s-it-called-when-a-hellhole-hits-a-cataclysm-a-catastro-phrack-i/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [...humanity learns true lessons only in cataclysm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-wilson/humanity-learns-true-lessons-only-in-cataclysm/) [Daniel H. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-wilson/) > [“A tremendous thunderclap was heard, the loudest there has ever been ... The sun remained hidden behind dark clouds, and there was only twilight,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-erdoes/a-tremendous-thunderclap-was-heard-the-loudest-there-has-ever-been/) [Richard Erdoes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-erdoes/) [Browse all 24 Cataclysm quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cataclysm/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I saw that this cataclysm must be an expiation for some barbarous crime of civilization, some terrible human lie. What the lie was, I had too little knowledge of history or science to know then. I know now it was our believing that we were fulfilling some end, serving some plan - that all would come out well in the end, because there was some great plan over all. Instead of the reality. There is no plan. All is hazard. 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