--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With one linear centimeter of your lower…" description: "\"With one linear centimeter of your lower colon there lives and works more bacteria (about 100 billion) that all humans who have ever been born. Yet man..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_ass_with-one-linear-centimeter-of-your-lower_210497.jpg" --- # With one linear centimeter of your lower colon there lives… ![“With one linear centimeter of your lower colon there lives and works more bacteria (about 100 billion) that all humans who have ever been born. Yet many people continue to assert that it is we who are in charge of the world” quote by Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_ass_with-one-linear-centimeter-of-your-lower_210497.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_ass_with-one-linear-centimeter-of-your-lower_210497.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_ass_with-one-linear-centimeter-of-your-lower_210497.jpg) > “With one linear centimeter of your lower colon there lives and works more bacteria (about 100 billion) that all humans who have ever been born. Yet many people continue to assert that it is we who are in charge of the world” [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The human gut hosts vastly more bacteria than there are people ever born, yet humans mistakenly think they control the world. **In simple terms:** Bacteria outnumber humans; we overestimate our control. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of human dominance. Themes biology humility perspective Mood thoughtful informative Type educational scientific When to use this quote - dietary health - environmental policy - education curricula Key Concepts microbiology anthropology Questions to Reflect On - What does this tell us about human hubris? - How can we better communicate scientific scale? A Different Perspective Complex ecosystems are hard to simplify for public understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bacteria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bacteria/) [Bad ass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-ass/) [Colon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colon/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [One line](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-line/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Lots of people think, well, we're humans; we're the most intelligent and accomplished species; we're in charge. Bacteria may have a different outlook: more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/lots-of-people-think-well-we-re-humans-we-re-the-most-intelligent-and/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Take care of your colon and your colon will take care of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-barker/take-care-of-your-colon-and-your-colon-will-take-care-of-you/) [Travis Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-barker/) > [“When I think about Richard Gere, I can’t help but simultaneously think about the colon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-baranick/when-i-think-about-richard-gere-i-can-t-help-but-simultaneously-think/) [Jenny Baranick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-baranick/) > [“Pay attention to what your coworkers have died from, as some of my coworkers have died from gastrointestinal disease.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/pay-attention-to-what-your-coworkers-have-died-from-as-some-of-my/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“The bacteria species in your colon today are more or less the same ones you had when you were six months old. About 80…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roach/the-bacteria-species-in-your-colon-today-are-more-or-less-the-same/) [Mary Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roach/) > [When I had cancer - of the colon first, followed by breast cancer and a mastectomy - my motto used to be 'Drips by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-i-had-cancer-of-the-colon-first-followed-by-breast-cancer-and-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Screening for colon cancer can stop cancer in its tracks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hill-harper/screening-for-colon-cancer-can-stop-cancer-in-its-tracks/) [Hill Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hill-harper/) > [“To be mulcted of our money and mutilated of our property is serious enough: to be deprived of our colon would be intolerable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-partridge/to-be-mulcted-of-our-money-and-mutilated-of-our-property-is-serious/) [Eric Partridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-partridge/) > [Coffee is already known to be a preventive factor against mild depression, Parkinson's disease, and colon and rectal cancers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kilham/coffee-is-already-known-to-be-a-preventive-factor-against-mild/) [Chris Kilham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kilham/) > [Colon has always thought that heroes had some special kind of clockwork that made them go out and die famously for god, country and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/colon-has-always-thought-that-heroes-had-some-special-kind-of/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [I'd never heard of colon cancer. Baseball wasn't even important to me. I have a wife and two girls. That's what was important. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-davis/i-d-never-heard-of-colon-cancer-baseball-wasn-t-even-important-to-me/) [Eric Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-davis/) > [The state of the health of the individual is equivalent to the state to the health of the colon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-harrelson/the-state-of-the-health-of-the-individual-is-equivalent-to-the-state/) [Woody Harrelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-harrelson/) > [Every organ, gland and cell in the body is affected by the condition of the colon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-w-walker/every-organ-gland-and-cell-in-the-body-is-affected-by-the-condition/) Norman W. Walker > [Hey its good for the colon…ruffage for the colon. -Si](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duck-dynasty/hey-its-good-for-the-colon-ruffage-for-the-colon-si/) [Duck Dynasty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duck-dynasty/) > [“…he was doing a breath hydrogen test. If you know the amount of hydrogen someone is exhaling orally, it's a simple matter to extrapolate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roach/he-was-doing-a-breath-hydrogen-test-if-you-know-the-amount-of/) [Mary Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roach/) ## More by Neil deGrasse Tyson > [I don't want to go into space because of war. I think we would if it was triggered. If China said they want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-don-t-want-to-go-into-space-because-of-war-i-think-we-would-if-it/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. 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People who believe themselves ignorant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/informed-ignorance-provides-the-natural-state-of-mind-for-research/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [If you seek only easy problems to solve, then ultimately, there'll be nothing about you to distinguish yourself from others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/if-you-seek-only-easy-problems-to-solve-then-ultimately-there-ll-be/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The caricature of science is that we hold tight to the theories we have, and shun challenges to them. That's just not true. 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Each discovery of science therefore adds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/new-generations-of-humans-inherit-the-acquired-discoveries-of/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [I've said multiple times that the world's first trillionaire is going to be the person who exploits the resources of asteroids, the natural resources…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-ve-said-multiple-times-that-the-world-s-first-trillionaire-is-going/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [ They \[scientists of centuries past\] call on God only from the lonely and precarious edge of incomprehension. Where they feel certain about their explanations,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/they-scientists-of-centuries-past-call-on-god-only-from-the-lonely/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We explore our environment, more than we are compelled to utter poetry, when we're toddlers. We start doing that later. Before that happens, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/we-explore-our-environment-more-than-we-are-compelled-to-utter-poetry/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [You can't have people making decisions about the future of the world who are scientifically illiterate. That's a recipe for disaster. And I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/you-can-t-have-people-making-decisions-about-the-future-of-the-world/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Science surrounds you. 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It is not going to be evenly constituted and when she was Speaker Pelosi, she certainly showed no interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trey-gowdy/i-can-tell-you-this-it-is-not-going-to-be-evenly-constituted-and-when/) [Trey Gowdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trey-gowdy/) > [Whoa. He had ghouls on speed dial. My lawyer kicks so much ass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hearne/whoa-he-had-ghouls-on-speed-dial-my-lawyer-kicks-so-much-ass/) [Kevin Hearne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hearne/) > [Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-prescott/don-t-fire-until-you-see-the-whites-of-their-eyes/) [William H. Prescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-prescott/) > [“Employment is an employee’s kissing of an employer’s ass. 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