--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a cosmic joke. Preoccupation with…" description: "\"“It is a cosmic joke. Preoccupation with survival has set the stage for extinction.”\" — John Steinbeck" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c35/john-steinbeck-71_quote_it-is-a-cosmic-joke-preoccupation-with-s_1687380.jpg" --- # It is a cosmic joke. Preoccupation with survival has set… ![“It is a cosmic joke. Preoccupation with survival has set the stage for extinction.” quote by John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c35/john-steinbeck-71_quote_it-is-a-cosmic-joke-preoccupation-with-s_1687380.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c35/john-steinbeck-71_quote_it-is-a-cosmic-joke-preoccupation-with-s_1687380.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c35/john-steinbeck-71_quote_it-is-a-cosmic-joke-preoccupation-with-s_1687380.jpg) > ““It is a cosmic joke. Preoccupation with survival has set the stage for extinction.”” [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our focus on mere survival blinds us to larger existential threats, leading to our own downfall. **In simple terms:** Survival obsession can cause extinction. Key Takeaway Balance survival with broader purpose. Themes existence environment humility Mood reflective serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - policy making - environmental activism - personal priorities Key Concepts cosmic perspective survival instinct Questions to Reflect On - What larger purpose can guide daily life? - How to balance survival and meaning? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on survival can ignore immediate needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinction/) [Joke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joke/) ## Related quotes > [“What if it's just a big, cosmic joke? Then...laugh! .85.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee/what-if-it-s-just-a-big-cosmic-joke-then-laugh-85/) [dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee/) > [I consider myself a sit-down comedian really, as much as anything else. I love comedy. Life is a cosmic joke.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wyatt/i-consider-myself-a-sit-down-comedian-really-as-much-as-anything-else/) [Robert Wyatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wyatt/) > [At bottom, to be colored means that one has been caught in some utterly unbelievable cosmic joke, a joke so hideous and in such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/at-bottom-to-be-colored-means-that-one-has-been-caught-in-some/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [It's a cosmic joke that I'm a lesbian, because I understand men so well but women are a complete mystery to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lea-delaria/it-s-a-cosmic-joke-that-i-m-a-lesbian-because-i-understand-men-so/) [Lea DeLaria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lea-delaria/) > [It would be a bitter cosmic joke if we destroy ourselves due to atrophy of the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-gellhorn/it-would-be-a-bitter-cosmic-joke-if-we-destroy-ourselves-due-to/) [Martha Gellhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-gellhorn/) > [What if life is just a cosmic joke, like spiders in your underwear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-buffett/what-if-life-is-just-a-cosmic-joke-like-spiders-in-your-underwear/) [Jimmy Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-buffett/) > [Laughter brings you to reality as it is. The world is a play of God, a cosmic joke. And unless you understand it as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhagwan-shree-rajneesh/laughter-brings-you-to-reality-as-it-is-the-world-is-a-play-of-god-a/) [Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhagwan-shree-rajneesh/) > [But if you were Charlotte, and you had been feeling that life was some cosmic joke that had no punchline, and in the space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/but-if-you-were-charlotte-and-you-had-been-feeling-that-life-was-some/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [What is the universe? Is it a great 3D movie in which we are the unwilling actors? 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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/) > [“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/) ## More by John Steinbeck > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Prayer never brought in no side-meat. 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The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/sometimes-a-lie-is-told-in-kindness-i-don-t-believe-it-ever-works/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [People like you to be something, preferably what they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/people-like-you-to-be-something-preferably-what-they-are/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Suddenly he knew joy and sorrow felted into one fabric. Courage and fear were one thing too. He found that he had started to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/suddenly-he-knew-joy-and-sorrow-felted-into-one-fabric-courage-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I am writing this from what we Americans call Yurrp. In Yurrp writers are taken as seriously as Lana Turner's legs are in America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-am-writing-this-from-what-we-americans-call-yurrp-in-yurrp-writers/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I write because I like to write. I find joy in the texture and tone and rhythm of words. 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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 > [“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. 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