--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I can't visualize the situation in which…" description: "\"I can't visualize the situation in which we nuke ourselves into extinction.\" — John Keegan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20f/john-keegan-14504_extinction_i-can-t-visualize-the-situation-in-which_2328188.png" --- # I can't visualize the situation in which we nuke ourselves… ![“I can't visualize the situation in which we nuke ourselves into extinction.” quote by John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20f/john-keegan-14504_extinction_i-can-t-visualize-the-situation-in-which_2328188.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20f/john-keegan-14504_extinction_i-can-t-visualize-the-situation-in-which_2328188.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20f/john-keegan-14504_extinction_i-can-t-visualize-the-situation-in-which_2328188.png) > “I can't visualize the situation in which we nuke ourselves into extinction.” [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Imagining nuclear self‑destruction seems impossible, yet it remains a critical risk to contemplate. **In simple terms:** Hard to picture nuking ourselves. Key Takeaway Take nuclear threats seriously. Themes war nuclear deterrence existential risk Mood serious concerned Type strategic educational When to use this quote - defense planning - public education - international diplomacy Key Concepts mutually assured destruction human error policy making Questions to Reflect On - What steps can societies take to reduce nuclear risk? - How does fear of the unimaginable shape policy? A Different Perspective Denial can prevent proactive prevention. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinction/) [Nuke Extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuke-extinction-5590391/) [Situation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/situation/) [Situation Nuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/situation-nuke-5590393/) [Visualize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visualize/) [Visualize Situation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visualize-situation-5590392/) ## Related quotes > [When we visualize something, we establish a relationship to the thing itself, not to some mere subjective representation of it inside us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/medard-boss/when-we-visualize-something-we-establish-a-relationship-to-the-thing/) [Medard Boss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/medard-boss/) > [It's hard to think of your parents as lovers. You know you got here somehow, but it's hard to visualize.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hemingway/it-s-hard-to-think-of-your-parents-as-lovers-you-know-you-got-here/) [Jack Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hemingway/) > [I visualize songs like a little movie scene and I try to almost talk through the scene. What emotions am I trying to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-lewis/i-visualize-songs-like-a-little-movie-scene-and-i-try-to-almost-talk/) [Dean Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-lewis/) > [I visualize my hand raised at the end, and every thing in between is just having fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-penne/i-visualize-my-hand-raised-at-the-end-and-every-thing-in-between-is/) [Jessica Penne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-penne/) > [The key thing if you're a writer is to visualize the scene and convey it to the penciller and turn the penciller loose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-claremont/the-key-thing-if-you-re-a-writer-is-to-visualize-the-scene-and-convey/) [Chris Claremont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-claremont/) > [Visualize what you want to do before you do it. Visualization is so powerful that when you know what you want, you will get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-flack/visualize-what-you-want-to-do-before-you-do-it-visualization-is-so/) [Audrey Flack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-flack/) > [Black holes do not emit light, so you visualize them through gravitational lensing - how they bend light from other objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kip-thorne/black-holes-do-not-emit-light-so-you-visualize-them-through/) [Kip Thorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kip-thorne/) > [Visualize, 'prayerize', 'actionize', and your wishes will come true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-l-allen/visualize-prayerize-actionize-and-your-wishes-will-come-true/) [Charles L. Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-l-allen/) > [“You must learn to take a step back and visualize the whole piece. If you focus only on the thread given to you, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-houck/you-must-learn-to-take-a-step-back-and-visualize-the-whole-piece-if/) [Colleen Houck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-houck/) > [When you think about the scale of human populations all over the world and the fact that there's so much here, really, the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-parcak/when-you-think-about-the-scale-of-human-populations-all-over-the/) [Sarah Parcak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-parcak/) > [The first thing I do with any script is read it and try to visualize if I can play the character - if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percelle-ascott/the-first-thing-i-do-with-any-script-is-read-it-and-try-to-visualize/) [Percelle Ascott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percelle-ascott/) > [To visualize an image (in whole or in part) is to see clearly in the mind prior to exposure, a continuous projection from composing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/to-visualize-an-image-in-whole-or-in-part-is-to-see-clearly-in-the/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [When I meditate, I visualize myself after the match as the winner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bianca-andreescu/when-i-meditate-i-visualize-myself-after-the-match-as-the-winner/) [Bianca Andreescu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bianca-andreescu/) > [You visualize making a game-changing play, that's what you're here for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-donald/you-visualize-making-a-game-changing-play-that-s-what-you-re-here-for/) [Aaron Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-donald/) > [To visualize is to see what is not there, what is not real - a dream. To visualize is, in fact, to make visual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/to-visualize-is-to-see-what-is-not-there-what-is-not-real-a-dream-to/) [Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/) ## More by John Keegan > [We forget today that Britain still depends for its livelihood and, indeed, its day-to-day survival, on the sea. But the Royal Navy is now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/we-forget-today-that-britain-still-depends-for-its-livelihood-and/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [ Hitler ... lacked the \[inclination\] for anything more than the occasional sensational display of emotion, in particular the great set-piece speech which mesmerized the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/hitler-lacked-the-inclination-for-anything-more-than-the-occasional/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [The historian ought to be an educated person, writing for other educated people about something which they don't know about, but wish to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/the-historian-ought-to-be-an-educated-person-writing-for-other/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [It's a necessary quality of a diplomat or a politician that he will compromise. Uncompromising politicians or diplomats get you into the most terrible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/it-s-a-necessary-quality-of-a-diplomat-or-a-politician-that-he-will/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [Visually Agincourt is a pre-Raphaelite, perhaps better a Medici Gallery print battle - a composition of strong verticals and horizontals and a conflict of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/visually-agincourt-is-a-pre-raphaelite-perhaps-better-a-medici/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [“The Second World War, when it came in 1939, was unquestionably the outcome of the First, and in large measure its continuation. Its circumstances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/the-second-world-war-when-it-came-in-1939-was-unquestionably-the/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [The Second World War is the largest single event in human history, fought across six of the world's seven continents and all it oceans.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/the-second-world-war-is-the-largest-single-event-in-human-history/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [“It is one of the many graveyards which are the Great War's chief heritage. The chronicle of its battles provides the dreariest literature in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/it-is-one-of-the-many-graveyards-which-are-the-great-war-s-chief/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [The Islam of the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th century was a poor thing. Nobody bothered about it. Islam was that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/the-islam-of-the-18th-19th-and-first-half-of-the-20th-century-was-a/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [Well, if they are trying to kill you, on the whole they're the people you have to kill, aren't they?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/well-if-they-are-trying-to-kill-you-on-the-whole-they-re-the-people/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [“Less than twenty years after the end of the Great War, the ‘war to end wars’ as it had come to be called at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/less-than-twenty-years-after-the-end-of-the-great-war-the-war-to-end/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [I think Americans like the practical; they like the human. And I like both those things myself, and I try and put them into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/i-think-americans-like-the-practical-they-like-the-human-and-i-like/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [“The ANZACs, clinging lost and leaderless to the hillsides, began, as the hot afternoon gave way to grey drizzle, to experience their martyrdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/the-anzacs-clinging-lost-and-leaderless-to-the-hillsides-began-as-the/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [The leader of men in warfare can show himself to his followers only through a mask, a mask that he must make for himself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/the-leader-of-men-in-warfare-can-show-himself-to-his-followers-only/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [“Rundstedt, revered throughout the German regular officer corps as its last archetypal Prussian, refused to deal with detail or to look at small-scale maps,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/rundstedt-revered-throughout-the-german-regular-officer-corps-as-its/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) [Explore all 46 John Keegan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) ## More Extinction quotes > [“You go into extinction by being obsessed about becoming something else and then travelling in the wrong car while your real self keeps waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/you-go-into-extinction-by-being-obsessed-about-becoming-something/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“Human race had never planned to show up in this universe. I wonder whether current human efforts are relevant to its sustainability.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/human-race-had-never-planned-to-show-up-in-this-universe-i-wonder/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [The human heart is not yet so corroded that it can read off the extinction of these two men without a shock to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/the-human-heart-is-not-yet-so-corroded-that-it-can-read-off-the/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [The extinction of Homo Sapiens would mean survival for millions, if not billions, of Earth-dwelling species. Phasing out the human race will solve every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/the-extinction-of-homo-sapiens-would-mean-survival-for-millions-if/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [For the complete extinction of the state, complete Communism is necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/for-the-complete-extinction-of-the-state-complete-communism-is/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [Plague has hung over human history. The biggest human extinction was after 1492 in North and South America when the mortality rate was 95…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/plague-has-hung-over-human-history-the-biggest-human-extinction-was/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Its haunting to realize that half of the languages of the world are teetering on the brink of extinction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-davis/its-haunting-to-realize-that-half-of-the-languages-of-the-world-are/) [Wade Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-davis/) > [Human extinction in our children's lifetime, it should be your top news item every single day, what's happening, you should be holding politicians to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-bradbrook/human-extinction-in-our-children-s-lifetime-it-should-be-your-top/) [Gail Bradbrook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-bradbrook/) > [ Now they \[the Powers\] have started the aggression, and the extinction of our nation is imminent. If we just fold our arms and yield… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/empress-dowager-cixi/now-they-the-powers-have-started-the-aggression-and-the-extinction-of/) [Empress Dowager Cixi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/empress-dowager-cixi/) > [“To return to nature is to embrace extinction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-x/to-return-to-nature-is-to-embrace-extinction/) [Mark X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-x/) > [We need to take a leaf out of natures book. Any species that clones itself will eventually be attacked by a parasite, leading to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-suarez/we-need-to-take-a-leaf-out-of-natures-book-any-species-that-clones/) [Daniel Suarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-suarez/) > [“Without death there is little innovation. Extinction - death of a species - is part and parcel of evolutionary change. In the absence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-fortey/without-death-there-is-little-innovation-extinction-death-of-a/) [Richard Fortey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-fortey/) > [In the 24 hours since this time yesterday, over 200,000 acres of rainforest have been destroyed in our world. Fully 13 million tons of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-hartmann/in-the-24-hours-since-this-time-yesterday-over-200-000-acres-of/) [Thom Hartmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-hartmann/) > [We find ourselves heading fully into an era of mass extinction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/severn-cullis-suzuki/we-find-ourselves-heading-fully-into-an-era-of-mass-extinction/) [Severn Cullis-Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/severn-cullis-suzuki/) [Browse all 581 Extinction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I can't visualize the situation in which we nuke ourselves into extinction.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Keegan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/i-can-t-visualize-the-situation-in-which-we-nuke-ourselves-into/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Extinction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/i-can-t-visualize-the-situation-in-which-we-nuke-ourselves-into/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20f/john-keegan-14504_extinction_i-can-t-visualize-the-situation-in-which_2328188.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20f/john-keegan-14504_extinction_i-can-t-visualize-the-situation-in-which_2328188.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20f/john-keegan-14504_extinction_i-can-t-visualize-the-situation-in-which_2328188.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I can't visualize the situation in which we nuke ourselves into extinction.” — John Keegan", "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": "John Keegan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I can't visualize the situation in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/i-can-t-visualize-the-situation-in-which-we-nuke-ourselves-into/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/i-can-t-visualize-the-situation-in-which-we-nuke-ourselves-into/#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 } } ] } ```