--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Humans may be destroying their chances…" description: "\"Humans may be destroying their chances for decent survival. It won't kill everybody, but it would change the world dramatically.\" — Noam Chomsky" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/noam-chomsky-42_chance_humans-may-be-destroying-their-chances-f_2312918.jpg" --- # Humans may be destroying their chances for decent… ![“Humans may be destroying their chances for decent survival. It won't kill everybody, but it would change the world dramatically.” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/noam-chomsky-42_chance_humans-may-be-destroying-their-chances-f_2312918.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/noam-chomsky-42_chance_humans-may-be-destroying-their-chances-f_2312918.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/noam-chomsky-42_chance_humans-may-be-destroying-their-chances-f_2312918.jpg) > “Humans may be destroying their chances for decent survival. It won't kill everybody, but it would change the world dramatically.” [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human actions threaten survival; while not total extinction, consequences will be profound. **In simple terms:** Human impact risks future survival. Key Takeaway Reduce harm, protect future. Themes environment survival responsibility Mood urgent somber Type philosophical cautionary When to use this quote - policy making - education - activism Key Concepts anthropogenic risk climate change Questions to Reflect On - What personal changes can reduce impact? - How can societies prioritize long‑term survival? A Different Perspective Economic interests often block change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Change the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-the-world/) [Changing the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changing-the-world/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Survival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survival/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“I want to kill everybody in the world, I want to eat your heart...out”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-want-to-kill-everybody-in-the-world-i-want-to-eat-your-heart-out/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Best way out,” Elmo observed laconically, “would be to kill everybody who knows anything, then all of us fall on our swords.” “Sounds a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/best-way-out-elmo-observed-laconically-would-be-to-kill-everybody-who/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [I don't know, 53 years with the same human being? I can't be around myself for more than three or four hours before I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-baio/i-don-t-know-53-years-with-the-same-human-being-i-can-t-be-around/) [Scott Baio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-baio/) > [We kill everybody, my dear. Some with bullets, some with words, and everybody with our deeds. We drive people into their graves, and neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxim-gorky/we-kill-everybody-my-dear-some-with-bullets-some-with-words-and/) [Maxim Gorky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxim-gorky/) > [Keep calm and kill everybody in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali/keep-calm-and-kill-everybody-in-the-world/) [Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali/) > [“Some people can’t sit around the dinner table for an hour without some sort of fight breaking out. Stick them in an underground dungeon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-johnathan-davis/some-people-can-t-sit-around-the-dinner-table-for-an-hour-without/) [S. Johnathan Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-johnathan-davis/) > [I'd rather deal with Tipper than Bush. He's trying to kill everybody in jail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-dre/i-d-rather-deal-with-tipper-than-bush-he-s-trying-to-kill-everybody/) [Dr. Dre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-dre/) > [“they’re just a bunch of real sweet guys, you know, who just happen to want to kill everybody.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/they-re-just-a-bunch-of-real-sweet-guys-you-know-who-just-happen-to/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [What are you gonna do? Kill me? 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And then I make a movie where I kill everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abel-ferrara/i-m-not-a-big-fan-of-talking-about-dying-and-then-i-make-a-movie/) [Abel Ferrara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abel-ferrara/) > [“If I was to kill everybody who didn't love me and never would, wouldn't be nobody left on the planet?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-ryan-hyde/if-i-was-to-kill-everybody-who-didn-t-love-me-and-never-would-wouldn/) [Catherine Ryan Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-ryan-hyde/) > [“Not even God who made us all can kill everybody at once. 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Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/discovery-is-the-ability-to-be-puzzled-by-simple-things-noam-chomsky/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There's an interesting book about that called The Third Reich and the Ivory Tower, written by Stephen H. Norwood. It has a long discussion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-an-interesting-book-about-that-called-the-third-reich-and-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [This is class war on an international scale, and power is in the hands of those who control the international economic system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/this-is-class-war-on-an-international-scale-and-power-is-in-the-hands/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There are big, extremely irrational parts of the society, and they have now been mobilized politically by the Republican establishment, hoping that these people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-big-extremely-irrational-parts-of-the-society-and-they-have/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There's plenty to criticize about the mass media, but they are the source of regular information about a wide range of topics. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-plenty-to-criticize-about-the-mass-media-but-they-are-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The 50,000 Korean mercenaries we had in Vietnam were professional killers and just massacred people outright. And the American army did plenty of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-50-000-korean-mercenaries-we-had-in-vietnam-were-professional/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Explore all 2,129 Noam Chomsky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## More Chance quotes > [Before I debuted, it was my goal to make my debut, and afterwards, I aimed at winning champion titles on television music shows, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hyuna/before-i-debuted-it-was-my-goal-to-make-my-debut-and-afterwards-i/) [Hyuna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hyuna/) > [I understand it's promotion, but no one ever gave me a chance. 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With movies, you roll the dice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-campbell/the-happy-medium-is-television-and-if-you-find-a-good-suitor-you-can/) [Bruce Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-campbell/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I have heard that if you pull a bent breath through the second hole of a harmonica tuned to the key of Georgia while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-wakefield/i-have-heard-that-if-you-pull-a-bent-breath-through-the-second-hole/) [Buddy Wakefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-wakefield/) > [There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. But a knob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-times-when-we-can-feel-destiny-close-around-us-like-a-fist/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Pain held no terror for him. Pain was, if not friend, then family, something he had grown up with in his crèche, learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-bacigalupi/pain-held-no-terror-for-him-pain-was-if-not-friend-then-family/) [Paolo Bacigalupi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-bacigalupi/) > [Love changes people, for better or for worse. You could look at it as a chance for you to change. The best kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-changes-people-for-better-or-for-worse-you-could-look-at-it-as-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It's not who, it's when”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-taubas/it-s-not-who-it-s-when/) Alejandro Taubas > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I thought my first few jobs would just be off, off, off, off, off broadway. And by chance and how the world works, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-dorfman/i-thought-my-first-few-jobs-would-just-be-off-off-off-off-off/) [Tommy Dorfman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-dorfman/) > [If you’re worrying about the past, you’ve got a good chance of screwing up the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-a-tullman/if-you-re-worrying-about-the-past-you-ve-got-a-good-chance-of/) [Howard A. Tullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-a-tullman/) > [To be successful, one must take chances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-stargell/to-be-successful-one-must-take-chances/) [Willie Stargell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-stargell/) [Browse all 12,460 Chance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Humans may be destroying their chances for decent survival. 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