--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the earth must lose that great portion…" description: "\"If the earth must lose that great portion of its pleasantness which it owes to things that the unlimited increase of wealth and population would extirp..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b70/john-stuart-mill-477_earth_if-the-earth-must-lose-that-great-portio_686555.png" --- # If the earth must lose that great portion of its… ![“If the earth must lose that great portion of its pleasantness which it owes to things that the unlimited increase of wealth and population would extirpate from it, for the mere purpose of enabling it to support a larger, but not a happier or a better population, I sincerely hope, for the sake of…” quote by John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b70/john-stuart-mill-477_earth_if-the-earth-must-lose-that-great-portio_686555.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b70/john-stuart-mill-477_earth_if-the-earth-must-lose-that-great-portio_686555.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b70/john-stuart-mill-477_earth_if-the-earth-must-lose-that-great-portio_686555.png) > “If the earth must lose that great portion of its pleasantness which it owes to things that the unlimited increase of wealth and population would extirpate from it, for the mere purpose of enabling it to support a larger, but not a happier or a better population, I sincerely hope, for the sake of posterity, that they will be content to be stationary, long before necessity compels them to it.” [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mill warns that endless growth in wealth and population can degrade environmental quality, and he hopes people will accept a stable, lower‑impact lifestyle before necessity forces it. **In simple terms:** Uncontrolled growth harms nature; stability is preferable. Key Takeaway Choose sustainable, steady living. Themes environment economics ethics population sustainability Mood concerned reflective Type philosophical ethical environmental When to use this quote - urban planning - family size decisions - resource management - policy making Key Concepts utilitarianism ecology social contract Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance growth with ecological limits? - What policies encourage voluntary stability? A Different Perspective It may ignore human ambition and economic innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Earth Lose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth-lose-2573126/) [Enabling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enabling/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Increase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/increase/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Loses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loses/) [Mere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mere/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Necessity Compels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessity-compels-5422738/) [Pleasantness Owes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasantness-owes-5422737/) [Population](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/population/) [Population Extirpate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/population-extirpate-5422736/) [Population Sincerely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/population-sincerely-5422739/) [Portions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/portions/) [Posterity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/posterity/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Sake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sake/) [Sincerely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sincerely/) [Stationary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stationary/) [Support](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support/) [Unlimited](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unlimited/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) ## Related quotes > [It is foolish in the extreme not only to resort to force before necessity compels, but especially to madly create the conditions that will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/it-is-foolish-in-the-extreme-not-only-to-resort-to-force-before/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [My own judgment of how the world is gonna end is that there will be a country led by a madman that will build…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evel-knievel/my-own-judgment-of-how-the-world-is-gonna-end-is-that-there-will-be-a/) [Evel Knievel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evel-knievel/) > [But if you have no relationship with the living things on this earth, you may lose whatever relationship you have with humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/but-if-you-have-no-relationship-with-the-living-things-on-this-earth/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [A stationary condition of capital and population implies no stationary state of human improvement. 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