--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It must be, I thought, one of the race's…" description: "\"It must be, I thought, one of the race's most persistent and comforting hallucinations to trust that \"it can't happen here\" -- that one's own time and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91c/john-wyndham-8340_comforting_it-must-be-i-thought-one-of-the-race-s-m_3074846.jpg" --- # It must be, I thought, one of the race's most persistent… ![“It must be, I thought, one of the race's most persistent and comforting hallucinations to trust that "it can't happen here" -- that one's own time and place is beyond cataclysm.” quote by John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91c/john-wyndham-8340_comforting_it-must-be-i-thought-one-of-the-race-s-m_3074846.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91c/john-wyndham-8340_comforting_it-must-be-i-thought-one-of-the-race-s-m_3074846.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91c/john-wyndham-8340_comforting_it-must-be-i-thought-one-of-the-race-s-m_3074846.jpg) > “It must be, I thought, one of the race's most persistent and comforting hallucinations to trust that "it can't happen here" -- that one's own time and place is beyond cataclysm.” [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often believe they are immune to disaster because they feel detached from history, but no era is safe from upheaval. **In simple terms:** We think we’re safe, but history repeats. Key Takeaway Recognize vulnerability and prepare. Themes human nature history vulnerability Mood cautious reflective Type philosophical warning When to use this quote - personal planning - policy making - risk assessment - community resilience Key Concepts psychology historical cycles Questions to Reflect On - How does personal bias affect risk perception? - What can we learn from past crises? A Different Perspective Assumes a single perspective; may overlook systemic resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comforting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comforting/) [Execution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/execution/) [Hallucinations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hallucinations/) [Optimistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimistic/) [Persistent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persistent/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) ## Related quotes > [When I was a kid, I honestly never thought about race. I didn't see differences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-condor/when-i-was-a-kid-i-honestly-never-thought-about-race-i-didn-t-see/) [Lana Condor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-condor/) > [I never really had to put much thought into my race, and neither did anybody else. I knew I was black. I knew there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/issa-rae/i-never-really-had-to-put-much-thought-into-my-race-and-neither-did/) [Issa Rae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/issa-rae/) > [Descartes spent far too much time in bed subject to the persistent hallucination that he was thinking. You are not free from a similar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/descartes-spent-far-too-much-time-in-bed-subject-to-the-persistent/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [Memory creates a hallucination of the past, desire creates a hallucination of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaggi-vasudev/memory-creates-a-hallucination-of-the-past-desire-creates-a/) [Jaggi Vasudev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaggi-vasudev/) > [About 10 percent of the hearing impaired get musical hallucinations, and about 10 percent of the visually impaired get visual hallucinations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/about-10-percent-of-the-hearing-impaired-get-musical-hallucinations/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [As part of my job, I got malaria really badly and was put in intensive care, and I had a hallucination because they give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebel-wilson/as-part-of-my-job-i-got-malaria-really-badly-and-was-put-in-intensive/) [Rebel Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebel-wilson/) > [H. L. Mencken suffers from the hallucination that he is H. L. Mencken - there is no cure for a disease of that magnitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-bodenheim/h-l-mencken-suffers-from-the-hallucination-that-he-is-h-l-mencken/) [Maxwell Bodenheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxwell-bodenheim/) > [Psychotic hallucinations, whether they are visual or vocal, they address you. They accuse you. They seduce you. They humiliate you. They jeer at you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/psychotic-hallucinations-whether-they-are-visual-or-vocal-they/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [“To understand the ‘wounded men’ of Upper Palaeolithic art, I now consider somatic hallucinations; these include attenuation of the body and limbs, polymelia (having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-david-lewis-williams/to-understand-the-wounded-men-of-upper-palaeolithic-art-i-now/) [James David Lewis-Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-david-lewis-williams/) > [“A ten-year-old Amanda wandering around the sights and sounds of a carnival. Trying to take it all in as such an event was much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-allison-parker/a-ten-year-old-amanda-wandering-around-the-sights-and-sounds-of-a/) [Jaime Allison Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-allison-parker/) > [His smell—the scent of a demon, cinnamon incense, amber musk—wrapped around me, filled my lungs. I felt like I could breathe again, without every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilith-saintcrow/his-smell-the-scent-of-a-demon-cinnamon-incense-amber-musk-wrapped/) [Lilith Saintcrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilith-saintcrow/) > [A hallucination is a species of reality, as capable of teaching you as a videotape about Kilimanjaro or anything else that falls through your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/a-hallucination-is-a-species-of-reality-as-capable-of-teaching-you-as/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I'm not completely sure we aren't all living in a hallucination now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-maron/i-m-not-completely-sure-we-aren-t-all-living-in-a-hallucination-now/) [Marc Maron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-maron/) > [Well that's the nicest thing a beer induced hallucination has ever said to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocko/well-that-s-the-nicest-thing-a-beer-induced-hallucination-has-ever/) [Rocko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocko/) > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More by John Wyndham > [I shall pray God to send charity into this hideous world, and sympathy for the weak, and love for the unhappy and unfortunate. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/i-shall-pray-god-to-send-charity-into-this-hideous-world-and-sympathy/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [“But he survived, that radio announcer. His ship and five others out of the flotilla of ten came through, a bit radioactive, but otherwise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/but-he-survived-that-radio-announcer-his-ship-and-five-others-out-of/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [“You will have experienced, perhaps, that feeling of being relieved of a weight that you had not properly realized was there?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/you-will-have-experienced-perhaps-that-feeling-of-being-relieved-of-a/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [“We have both been given the same wish to survive, We are all, you see, toys of the life-force. It made you numerically stronger,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/we-have-both-been-given-the-same-wish-to-survive-we-are-all-you-see/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [But, as I understand it, your God is a universal God; He is God on all suns and all planets. Surely, then, He must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/but-as-i-understand-it-your-god-is-a-universal-god-he-is-god-on-all/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [“Personal honesty takes time to assert itself - if it is ever allowed to.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/personal-honesty-takes-time-to-assert-itself-if-it-is-ever-allowed-to/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [Why was I condemned to live in a democracy where every fool's vote is equal to a sensible man's?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/why-was-i-condemned-to-live-in-a-democracy-where-every-fool-s-vote-is/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [“It seemed to me an odd view to take - rather as if one should protest that one didn't LIKE the idea of dying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/it-seemed-to-me-an-odd-view-to-take-rather-as-if-one-should-protest/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [“a sort of botanical glory-hole”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/a-sort-of-botanical-glory-hole/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [“Darling, whose book is this to be?" "Ostensibly yours, my sweet" "I see -- rather like my life since I met you?" "Yes darling”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/darling-whose-book-is-this-to-be-ostensibly-yours-my-sweet-i-see/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [“Sophie dear,' I said. 'Are you in love with him - with this spider-man?' 'Oh, don't call him that - please - we can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/sophie-dear-i-said-are-you-in-love-with-him-with-this-spider-man-oh/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [“It was all conveyed by the nicest, almost indetectably refined blend of sympathy and bitchiness...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/it-was-all-conveyed-by-the-nicest-almost-indetectably-refined-blend/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [Find a nice, self sufficient hilltop, and fortify it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/find-a-nice-self-sufficient-hilltop-and-fortify-it/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [“... the more complex they made their world, the less capable they were of dealing with it. They had no means of consensus. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/the-more-complex-they-made-their-world-the-less-capable-they-were-of/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [“I'm not romancing. I'm talking about the inevitable time when, unless we do something to stop it, men will be hunting men through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/i-m-not-romancing-i-m-talking-about-the-inevitable-time-when-unless/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) [Explore all 81 John Wyndham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) ## More Comforting quotes > [“When you get lost in a really strange place, nothing is more comforting than found your friend whom you trust and can show the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/when-you-get-lost-in-a-really-strange-place-nothing-is-more/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [But victimhood was seductive, a release from responsibility and caring. Fear would be transmuted into weary resignation; failure would no longer generate guilt but,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/but-victimhood-was-seductive-a-release-from-responsibility-and-caring/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“Because the truth wouldn't be comforting and wouldn't bring them closer again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-brashares/because-the-truth-wouldn-t-be-comforting-and-wouldn-t-bring-them/) [Ann Brashares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-brashares/) > [Soothing touch, whether it be applied to a ruffled cat, a crying infant, or a frightened child, has a universally recognized power to ameliorate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deane-juhan/soothing-touch-whether-it-be-applied-to-a-ruffled-cat-a-crying-infant/) [Deane Juhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deane-juhan/) > [“Reth reached out and took my fingers in his own, his touch light but comforting. “I’ve found that sacrifice is called that for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/reth-reached-out-and-took-my-fingers-in-his-own-his-touch-light-but/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) > [Euthanasia" is an excellent and comforting word! I am grateful to whoever invented it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bram-stoker/euthanasia-is-an-excellent-and-comforting-word-i-am-grateful-to/) [Bram Stoker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bram-stoker/) > [At first, I had such stage fright, and it was always comforting to look over and see my big brother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sasha-spielberg/at-first-i-had-such-stage-fright-and-it-was-always-comforting-to-look/) [Sasha Spielberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sasha-spielberg/) > [Truth is often uncomfortable. It is only comforting to those who do not wish to ignore it. Then, truth becomes not only comforting, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/truth-is-often-uncomfortable-it-is-only-comforting-to-those-who-do/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [I've been sent down to the minor leagues six or seven times in my career. You've just got to have that stability. It's huge.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-diaz/i-ve-been-sent-down-to-the-minor-leagues-six-or-seven-times-in-my/) [Matt Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-diaz/) > [The upshot here is that Gil Scott-Heron is still a warrior, even if the front lines have moved. He's made a record not without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-hermes/the-upshot-here-is-that-gil-scott-heron-is-still-a-warrior-even-if/) [Will Hermes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-hermes/) > [The person in misery does not need a look that judges and criticizes but a comforting presence that brings peace and hope and life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-vanier/the-person-in-misery-does-not-need-a-look-that-judges-and-criticizes/) [Jean Vanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-vanier/) > [The search for God is a reversal of the normal, mundane worldly order. In search for God, you revert from what attracts you and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/the-search-for-god-is-a-reversal-of-the-normal-mundane-worldly-order/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [“Soeur Marie Emelie" Soeur Marie Emelie is little and very old: her eyes are onyx, and her cheeks vermilion, her apron wide and kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caryll-houselander/soeur-marie-emelie-soeur-marie-emelie-is-little-and-very-old-her-eyes/) [Caryll Houselander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caryll-houselander/) > [I just found it interesting to talk to adults I admired, and to discover that the path they took was never all that clearly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anderson-cooper/i-just-found-it-interesting-to-talk-to-adults-i-admired-and-to/) [Anderson Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anderson-cooper/) > [What is this Charity, this clinking of money between strangers, and when did Charity cease to be a comforting and secret thing between one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-benson/what-is-this-charity-this-clinking-of-money-between-strangers-and/) [Stella Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-benson/) [Browse all 697 Comforting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comforting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It must be, I thought, one of the race's most persistent and comforting hallucinations to trust that \"it can't happen here\" -- that one's own time and place is beyond cataclysm.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Wyndham" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/it-must-be-i-thought-one-of-the-race-s-most-persistent-and-comforting/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Comforting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/it-must-be-i-thought-one-of-the-race-s-most-persistent-and-comforting/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91c/john-wyndham-8340_comforting_it-must-be-i-thought-one-of-the-race-s-m_3074846.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91c/john-wyndham-8340_comforting_it-must-be-i-thought-one-of-the-race-s-m_3074846.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91c/john-wyndham-8340_comforting_it-must-be-i-thought-one-of-the-race-s-m_3074846.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It must be, I thought, one of the race's most persistent and comforting hallucinations to trust that \"it…” — John Wyndham", "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 Wyndham", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It must be, I thought, one...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/it-must-be-i-thought-one-of-the-race-s-most-persistent-and-comforting/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/it-must-be-i-thought-one-of-the-race-s-most-persistent-and-comforting/#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 } } ] } ```