---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: (Watch closely, folks, here it is…"
description: "\"“(Watch closely, folks, here it is: Science, the ugly little beast that devours itself!)”\" — Orson Scott Card"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cf/orson-scott-card-134_animals_watch-closely-folks-here-it-is-science-t_2261195.png"
---

#  (Watch closely, folks, here it is: Science, the ugly…

![“(Watch closely, folks, here it is: Science, the ugly little beast that devours itself!)” quote by Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cf/orson-scott-card-134_animals_watch-closely-folks-here-it-is-science-t_2261195.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cf/orson-scott-card-134_animals_watch-closely-folks-here-it-is-science-t_2261195.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cf/orson-scott-card-134_animals_watch-closely-folks-here-it-is-science-t_2261195.png)

> ““(Watch closely, folks, here it is: Science, the ugly little beast that devours itself!)””

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Science is portrayed as a self‑consuming force that can be both destructive and regenerative.

**In simple terms:** Science can devour itself.

Key Takeaway

Recognize science’s dual nature.

Themes

science self‑destruction progress danger knowledge

Mood

critical analytical

Type

cautionary philosophical

When to use this quote

- research labs
- technology development
- policy debates
- education
- media coverage

Key Concepts

epistemology systems theory

Questions to Reflect On

- What safeguards prevent science from turning harmful?
- How can we channel its destructive aspects productively?

A Different Perspective

Science’s self‑destruction can hinder societal trust.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/)

## Related quotes

> [“ugly little things aren't the?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-crichton/ugly-little-things-aren-t-the/)

[Michael Crichton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-crichton/)

> [“She gave a soft whine and tilted her head to the side. She was ugly. Little. Sick. And Tox was totally in love with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lila-ashe/she-gave-a-soft-whine-and-tilted-her-head-to-the-side-she-was-ugly/)

[Lila Ashe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lila-ashe/)

> [The ego is that ugly little troll that lives underneath the bridge between your mind and your heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gael-greene/the-ego-is-that-ugly-little-troll-that-lives-underneath-the-bridge/)

[Gael Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gael-greene/)

> [Fear is vulnerability's ugly little sister.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-murray/fear-is-vulnerability-s-ugly-little-sister/)

[Jaime Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-murray/)

> [“Some of my stuff’s so ugly, a little water damage could only help. Might”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-parke/some-of-my-stuff-s-so-ugly-a-little-water-damage-could-only-help-might/)

[Graham Parke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-parke/)

> [“Give little people a little power, and it goes straight to their ugly, little heads. -Foot talks about authority”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-palla/give-little-people-a-little-power-and-it-goes-straight-to-their-ugly/)

[Ray Palla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-palla/)

> [“She's an ugly little thing. No child should look like that. Pale and sour, like a glass of milk that's turned." "And so skinny!"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-bardugo/she-s-an-ugly-little-thing-no-child-should-look-like-that-pale-and/)

[Leigh Bardugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-bardugo/)

> [“Now, children, watch closely. Hold your breath. Listen. And I will show you the components of calamity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-kristoff/now-children-watch-closely-hold-your-breath-listen-and-i-will-show/)

[Jay Kristoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-kristoff/)

> [“Ignore what a man is willing to fight for, watch closely what he's willing to die for.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/ignore-what-a-man-is-willing-to-fight-for-watch-closely-what-he-s/)

[Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/)

> [We are facing a whole collection of crisis-like developments that we have to watch closely. But we also have to be careful what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-schauble/we-are-facing-a-whole-collection-of-crisis-like-developments-that-we/)

[Wolfgang Schauble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-schauble/)

> [Like nothing you've ever seen before watch closely as I open this door. Your jaws will be on the floor after this you'll be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saliva/like-nothing-you-ve-ever-seen-before-watch-closely-as-i-open-this/)

[Saliva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saliva/)

> [“The best way to detect the destructive element in someone is to watch closely their behavioural pattern when given authority over poverty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/the-best-way-to-detect-the-destructive-element-in-someone-is-to-watch/)

[Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/)

> [Watch me closely - only one can spoil it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-ormandy/watch-me-closely-only-one-can-spoil-it/)

[Eugene Ormandy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-ormandy/)

> [I'm definitely going to watch closely my position and other positions, just knowing where to be on the court and things like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerami-grant/i-m-definitely-going-to-watch-closely-my-position-and-other-positions/)

[Jerami Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerami-grant/)

> [People watch you closely just praying for you to mess up or make a mistake so they can point the finger.. nothin new to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-watch-you-closely-just-praying-for-you-to-mess-up-or-make-a/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## More by Orson Scott Card

> [“You underestimate yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/you-underestimate-yourself/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“Why did he hesitate? He finally admitted to himself that he was like an American child who was almost completely certain about Santa Claus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/why-did-he-hesitate-he-finally-admitted-to-himself-that-he-was-like/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“I don't know of a soul who doesn't maintain two separate lists of doctrines - the ones they believe they believe; and the ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-don-t-know-of-a-soul-who-doesn-t-maintain-two-separate-lists-of/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [Good people do not let others suffer needlessly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/good-people-do-not-let-others-suffer-needlessly/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“The devil?” Jason heaved the tick over his shoulder like a collier with his sack. “Satan. The adversary. The enemy of the plan of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/the-devil-jason-heaved-the-tick-over-his-shoulder-like-a-collier-with/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“What we've done is make the categories of science fiction and fantasy larger, freer, and more inclusive than any other genre of contemporary literature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/what-we-ve-done-is-make-the-categories-of-science-fiction-and-fantasy/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [Where ideas are real and reality is shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/where-ideas-are-real-and-reality-is-shadow/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“Ender, for the past few months you have been the battle commander of our fleets. This was the Third Invasion. There were no games,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/ender-for-the-past-few-months-you-have-been-the-battle-commander-of/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [Science fiction is about what could be but isn't; fantasy is about what couldn't be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/science-fiction-is-about-what-could-be-but-isn-t-fantasy-is-about/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [Knowledge is just opinion that you trust enough to act upon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/knowledge-is-just-opinion-that-you-trust-enough-to-act-upon/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“Of course they accused Marcão of having done it without provocation—that’s the way of torturers of every age, to put the blame on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/of-course-they-accused-marc-o-of-having-done-it-without-provocation/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“Where did this whole thing begin? If what we think of as reality is just a pattern that somebody brought Outside, and the universe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/where-did-this-whole-thing-begin-if-what-we-think-of-as-reality-is/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

[Explore all 1,158 Orson Scott Card quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

## More Animals quotes

> [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/)

[Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/)

> [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/)

Mak\_786

> [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/)

[Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/)

> [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/)

[Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/)

> [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/)

[Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/)

> [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/it-s-a-small-thing-to-help-one-animal-but-to-that-one-animal-it-s-a/)

[Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/)

> [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/)

[Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/)

> [“All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/all-these-creatures-spend-their-time-explaining-realizing-happily/)

[Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/)

> [We're not very dangerous animals; we don't have a horn like a rhino or quills like a porcupine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/we-re-not-very-dangerous-animals-we-don-t-have-a-horn-like-a-rhino-or/)

[Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/)

> [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/)

[Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/)

> [“Plenty of animals had pets, but few were more devoted than the mouse, who owned a baby corn snake—“A rescue snake, she’d be quick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/plenty-of-animals-had-pets-but-few-were-more-devoted-than-the-mouse/)

[David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/)

> [No creature can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/no-creature-can-attain-a-higher-grade-of-nature-without-ceasing-to/)

[Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/)

> [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/)

[Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/)

[Browse all 6,813 Animals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“(Watch closely, folks, here it is: Science, the ugly little beast that devours itself!)”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Orson Scott Card"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/watch-closely-folks-here-it-is-science-the-ugly-little-beast-that/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Animals"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/watch-closely-folks-here-it-is-science-the-ugly-little-beast-that/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cf/orson-scott-card-134_animals_watch-closely-folks-here-it-is-science-t_2261195.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cf/orson-scott-card-134_animals_watch-closely-folks-here-it-is-science-t_2261195.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cf/orson-scott-card-134_animals_watch-closely-folks-here-it-is-science-t_2261195.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“(Watch closely, folks, here it is: Science, the ugly little beast that devours itself!)” — Orson Scott Card",
                "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": "Orson Scott Card",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“(Watch closely, folks, here it is:...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/watch-closely-folks-here-it-is-science-the-ugly-little-beast-that/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/watch-closely-folks-here-it-is-science-the-ugly-little-beast-that/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
