--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pending catastrophe is not an easy notion…" description: "\"Pending catastrophe is not an easy notion to entertain, much less sustain. Americans, moreover, have a low tolerance for doom and gloom. We are the nat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/kathleen-parker-26592_catastrophe_pending-catastrophe-is-not-an-easy-notio_1721751.jpg" --- # Pending catastrophe is not an easy notion to entertain… ![“Pending catastrophe is not an easy notion to entertain, much less sustain. Americans, moreover, have a low tolerance for doom and gloom. We are the nation of optimism, after all. We elect leaders who promise hope and change. We are the shining city on a hill. But what happens when the lights go out?” quote by Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/kathleen-parker-26592_catastrophe_pending-catastrophe-is-not-an-easy-notio_1721751.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/kathleen-parker-26592_catastrophe_pending-catastrophe-is-not-an-easy-notio_1721751.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43a/kathleen-parker-26592_catastrophe_pending-catastrophe-is-not-an-easy-notio_1721751.jpg) > “Pending catastrophe is not an easy notion to entertain, much less sustain. Americans, moreover, have a low tolerance for doom and gloom. We are the nation of optimism, after all. We elect leaders who promise hope and change. We are the shining city on a hill. But what happens when the lights go out?” [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote warns that while Americans favor optimism and hope, they struggle to accept or maintain awareness of looming disasters, exposing a vulnerability in societal resilience. **In simple terms:** People like hope but avoid thinking about big problems. Key Takeaway Recognize and plan for risks despite optimism. Themes optimism resilience risk perception political culture Mood concerned reflective Type critical observational When to use this quote - government planning - personal emergency prep - media framing - community education Key Concepts cognitive bias social psychology public policy Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance hope with realistic risk assessment? - What structures help societies confront uncomfortable truths? A Different Perspective Optimism can blind societies to necessary preparation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Catastrophe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catastrophe/) [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [City On A Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/city-on-a-hill/) [Doom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doom/) [Doom and gloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doom-and-gloom/) [Gloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gloom/) [Hills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hills/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Hope and change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope-and-change/) [Leader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leader/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Optimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimism/) [Pending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pending/) [Promise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promise/) [Shining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shining/) [Tolerance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerance/) ## Related quotes > [We are a strong, robust, and prosperous nation. Optimism is the essence of our success. It drives our creativity and emboldens our entrepreneurial spirit.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-frist/we-are-a-strong-robust-and-prosperous-nation-optimism-is-the-essence/) [Bill Frist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-frist/) > [When there's doom and gloom, don't forget there's darkness before dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakesh-jhunjhunwala/when-there-s-doom-and-gloom-don-t-forget-there-s-darkness-before-dawn/) [Rakesh Jhunjhunwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakesh-jhunjhunwala/) > [Preaching doom and gloom has been beneficial to the political class. They use it to gain more power and control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-e-williams/preaching-doom-and-gloom-has-been-beneficial-to-the-political-class/) [Walter E. Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-e-williams/) > [Being an environmentalist isn't all about doom and gloom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/being-an-environmentalist-isn-t-all-about-doom-and-gloom/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [Cincinnati beats you up for three days, and all of a sudden it's doom and gloom. I cannot live my life that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-maddon/cincinnati-beats-you-up-for-three-days-and-all-of-a-sudden-it-s-doom/) [Joe Maddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-maddon/) > [“Worry, fear, doom, and gloom are all an absolute waste of energy ' ~ Ramie”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-bauerschmidt/worry-fear-doom-and-gloom-are-all-an-absolute-waste-of-energy-ramie/) [Tim Bauerschmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-bauerschmidt/) > [I think if you go out with too hard a conservation message, then you convince people that it's all doom and gloom and nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-backshall/i-think-if-you-go-out-with-too-hard-a-conservation-message-then-you/) [Steve Backshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-backshall/) > [I think that its easy to think of the environment as all doom and gloom and that, 'What can we do, it's too late.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orlando-bloom/i-think-that-its-easy-to-think-of-the-environment-as-all-doom-and/) [Orlando Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orlando-bloom/) > [I like doom and gloom with a sense of humour. Maybe it's a Scottish thing, we like to undercut indulgence with a laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-henderson/i-like-doom-and-gloom-with-a-sense-of-humour-maybe-it-s-a-scottish/) [Shirley Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-henderson/) > [I am not a 'doom and gloom' guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghuram-rajan/i-am-not-a-doom-and-gloom-guy/) [Raghuram Rajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghuram-rajan/) > [ I've seen a lot of doom and gloom and depressing things, and it's \[the\] youth that give me hope. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippe-cousteau-jr/i-ve-seen-a-lot-of-doom-and-gloom-and-depressing-things-and-it-s-the/) [Philippe Cousteau, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippe-cousteau-jr/) > [We were poor, my mother and I, living in a world of doom and gloom, pessimism and bitterness, where storms raged and wolves scratched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/said-sayrafiezadeh/we-were-poor-my-mother-and-i-living-in-a-world-of-doom-and-gloom/) [Said Sayrafiezadeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/said-sayrafiezadeh/) > [Here's what I say: We will ignore the cult of doom and gloom and embrace the cause of zoom and boom. We will laugh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/here-s-what-i-say-we-will-ignore-the-cult-of-doom-and-gloom-and/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [Talking doom and gloom all day no longer fit who I was as a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryn-kagan/talking-doom-and-gloom-all-day-no-longer-fit-who-i-was-as-a-person/) [Daryn Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryn-kagan/) > [People do support themselves as artists and writers, so there's no need to be all doom and gloom about it. You just have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/people-do-support-themselves-as-artists-and-writers-so-there-s-no/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) ## More by Kathleen Parker > [If you don't like tomato soup, you don't buy tomato soup.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/if-you-don-t-like-tomato-soup-you-don-t-buy-tomato-soup/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [It's probably fair to say that Obama's ideas were too big for America's appetite. It would have been nice had he made a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/it-s-probably-fair-to-say-that-obama-s-ideas-were-too-big-for-america/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [Great nations don't have to remind others of their greatness. They merely have to be great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/great-nations-don-t-have-to-remind-others-of-their-greatness-they/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [Of course, certain religious expressions are fine. If a tribe of Aqualishes wants to boil rhino horns in frog saliva on the National Mall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/of-course-certain-religious-expressions-are-fine-if-a-tribe-of/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [“Would it be politically incorrect to call a top-ranked female anchor (with a law degree) currently on the cover of Vanity Fair a bimbo?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/would-it-be-politically-incorrect-to-call-a-top-ranked-female-anchor/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [“Yet Trump has managed to convince his legions that making vile comments about someone is a revolutionary act, a badge of honor and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/yet-trump-has-managed-to-convince-his-legions-that-making-vile/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [Allow me to introduce myself. I am a traitor and an idiot. Also, my mother should have aborted me and left me in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/allow-me-to-introduce-myself-i-am-a-traitor-and-an-idiot-also-my/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [Nevertheless, it is probably fair to say that Obama's ideas were too big for America's appetite. It would have been nice had he made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/nevertheless-it-is-probably-fair-to-say-that-obama-s-ideas-were-too/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [Each time I wander into blogdom, I'm reminded of the savage children stranded on an island in William Golding's "Lord of the Flies." Without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/each-time-i-wander-into-blogdom-i-m-reminded-of-the-savage-children/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [“For those of you who skipped their women's studies classes, first-wave feminism got women the vote; second-wave got them employed and divorced; third-wave is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/for-those-of-you-who-skipped-their-women-s-studies-classes-first-wave/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [It's impossible to expect polite behavior from people who've never witnessed it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/it-s-impossible-to-expect-polite-behavior-from-people-who-ve-never/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [People in positions of power and privilege have a duty to perform at a higher level. If not them, then who?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/people-in-positions-of-power-and-privilege-have-a-duty-to-perform-at/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/to-be-more-specific-the-evangelical-right-wing-oogedy-boogedy-branch/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [Freedom is a messy affair, and sometimes people get their feelings hurt but we think the trade-off is worth the aggravation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/freedom-is-a-messy-affair-and-sometimes-people-get-their-feelings/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) > [It is entirely possible that Limbaugh himself never needed contraception in college, but virtue in the absence of opportunity is hardly a moral triumph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-parker/it-is-entirely-possible-that-limbaugh-himself-never-needed/) [Kathleen Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) [Explore all 21 Kathleen Parker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-parker/) ## More Catastrophe quotes > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“..the sense of a catastrophe perpetually invoked and avoided creates a rapture in whose depths horror and pleasure coincide...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-leiris/the-sense-of-a-catastrophe-perpetually-invoked-and-avoided-creates-a/) [Michel Leiris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-leiris/) > [To you, the people of Flint, I say, as I have before, I am sorry and I will fix it. No citizen of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-snyder/to-you-the-people-of-flint-i-say-as-i-have-before-i-am-sorry-and-i/) [Rick Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-snyder/) > [Dark influences from the American past congregate among us still. If we are a democracy, what are we to make of the palpable elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/dark-influences-from-the-american-past-congregate-among-us-still-if/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [It's the hardest thing on earth to like yourself, and then when you do, it's a catastrophe. I mean, the people I know who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/it-s-the-hardest-thing-on-earth-to-like-yourself-and-then-when-you-do/) [Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/) > [We are upsetting the atmosphere upon which all life depends. In the late 80s when I began to take climate change seriously, we referred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/we-are-upsetting-the-atmosphere-upon-which-all-life-depends-in-the/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [“War is catastrophe. It breaks families in irretrievable pieces. But those who are gone are not necessarily lost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruta-sepetys/war-is-catastrophe-it-breaks-families-in-irretrievable-pieces-but/) [Ruta Sepetys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruta-sepetys/) > [The biggest catastrophes that we've witnessed rarely come from information that is secret or hidden. It comes from information that is freely available and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-heffernan/the-biggest-catastrophes-that-we-ve-witnessed-rarely-come-from/) [Margaret Heffernan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-heffernan/) > [All the parties of capitalist society, all its moralists and all its sycophants will perish beneath the debris of the impending catastrophe. The only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/all-the-parties-of-capitalist-society-all-its-moralists-and-all-its/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/) > [When the regime changed in Japan, the Japanese changed; Russians too can change, as long as the conditions for it are present once again.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-voinovich/when-the-regime-changed-in-japan-the-japanese-changed-russians-too/) [Vladimir Voinovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-voinovich/) > [And in the racial climate of this country today, it is anybody's guess which of the 'extremes' in approach to the black man's problems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/and-in-the-racial-climate-of-this-country-today-it-is-anybody-s-guess/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [“But I guess it never is what you worry over that comes to pass in the end. The real catastrophes are always different -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/but-i-guess-it-never-is-what-you-worry-over-that-comes-to-pass-in-the/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [“How someone wants to explain catastrophe isn't important--that's what I know now. When shit happens, it doesn't really matter what asshole is responsible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/how-someone-wants-to-explain-catastrophe-isn-t-important-that-s-what/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [The Author of nature has not given laws to the universe, which, like the institutions of men, carry in themselves the elements of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-playfair/the-author-of-nature-has-not-given-laws-to-the-universe-which-like/) [John Playfair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-playfair/) [Browse all 656 Catastrophe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catastrophe/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Pending catastrophe is not an easy notion to entertain, much less sustain. Americans, moreover, have a low tolerance for doom and gloom. We are the nation of optimism, after all. We elect leaders who promise hope and change. 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