--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The end of the human race will be that it…" description: "\"The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.\" — Ralph Waldo Emerson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b3/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_civilization_the-end-of-the-human-race-will-be-that-i_2373399.png" --- # The end of the human race will be that it will eventually… ![“The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b3/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_civilization_the-end-of-the-human-race-will-be-that-i_2373399.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b3/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_civilization_the-end-of-the-human-race-will-be-that-i_2373399.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b3/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_civilization_the-end-of-the-human-race-will-be-that-i_2373399.png) > “The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humanity’s ultimate fate is to be undone by its own advanced civilization, suggesting progress can become self‑destructive. **In simple terms:** Civilization may lead to humanity’s demise. Key Takeaway Beware of unchecked technological growth. Themes civilization future self‑destruction Mood cautionary philosophical Type reflective warning When to use this quote - policy making - urban planning - cultural development Key Concepts environmental impact technological ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can we steer civilization responsibly? - What safeguards prevent self‑destruction? A Different Perspective The view may be overly pessimistic and ignore positive potentials. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Human race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-race/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) ## Related quotes > [I do not believe that civilizations have to die because civilization is not an organism. It is a product of wills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-j-toynbee/i-do-not-believe-that-civilizations-have-to-die-because-civilization/) [Arnold J. Toynbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-j-toynbee/) > [What is the end of human life? It is not, believe me, the chief end of man that he should make a fortune and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/what-is-the-end-of-human-life-it-is-not-believe-me-the-chief-end-of/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I was convinced that eventually I would die of heart disease, that we'd run out of time and out of treatment, the technology wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cheney/i-was-convinced-that-eventually-i-would-die-of-heart-disease-that-we/) [Dick Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cheney/) > [Eventually, before I die, I hope to have written about every part I've played.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/eventually-before-i-die-i-hope-to-have-written-about-every-part-i-ve/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) > [Why are we born? We're born eventually to die, of course. But what happens between the time we're born and we die? We're born…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/studs-terkel/why-are-we-born-we-re-born-eventually-to-die-of-course-but-what/) [Studs Terkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/studs-terkel/) > [I was at the Wal-Mart, which is where I think everybody goes eventually. If they die without Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emo-philips/i-was-at-the-wal-mart-which-is-where-i-think-everybody-goes/) [Emo Philips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emo-philips/) > [I think that any authentic feeling one has of life should be a feeling of defeat. It's a losing game. You're going to die.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etgar-keret/i-think-that-any-authentic-feeling-one-has-of-life-should-be-a/) [Etgar Keret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etgar-keret/) > [Nations, like individuals, live and die; but civilization cannot die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-mazzini/nations-like-individuals-live-and-die-but-civilization-cannot-die/) [Giuseppe Mazzini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-mazzini/) > [When the faith dies, the culture it produced begins to die, then the civilization goes, and, then, the population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/when-the-faith-dies-the-culture-it-produced-begins-to-die-then-the/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [Barbarism is needed every four or five hundred years to bring the world back to life. Otherwise it would die of civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-de-goncourt/barbarism-is-needed-every-four-or-five-hundred-years-to-bring-the/) [Edmond de Goncourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-de-goncourt/) > [“You oughtn't to see this," Will muttered in my ear. "You'll never want to have a baby if you do. They oughtn't to let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/you-oughtn-t-to-see-this-will-muttered-in-my-ear-you-ll-never-want-to/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Everyone wants the people to end up together in the end. It's human nature. The funny thing is, you always know they're going to.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessi-kirby/everyone-wants-the-people-to-end-up-together-in-the-end-it-s-human/) [Jessi Kirby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessi-kirby/) > [The great end of all human industry is the attainment of happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-great-end-of-all-human-industry-is-the-attainment-of-happiness/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [The only purpose of life till it ends is to satisfy the desires of your own mind and body and nothing else but there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goutham-aditya-devaguptapu/the-only-purpose-of-life-till-it-ends-is-to-satisfy-the-desires-of/) [Goutham Aditya Devaguptapu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goutham-aditya-devaguptapu/) > [The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/the-development-of-full-artificial-intelligence-could-spell-the-end/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) ## More by Ralph Waldo Emerson > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-then-creative-reading-as-well-as-creative-writing-when-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The order of things consents to virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-order-of-things-consents-to-virtue/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Life only avails, not the having lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/life-only-avails-not-the-having-lived/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-child-reminds-us-that-playtime-is-an-essential-part-of-our-daily/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [No man can be criticised but by a greater than he. Do not, then, read the reviews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/no-man-can-be-criticised-but-by-a-greater-than-he-do-not-then-read/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I am; therefore, I had nothing better to do than to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-am-therefore-i-had-nothing-better-to-do-than-to-think/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-a-library-we-are-surrounded-by-many-hundreds-of-dear-friends-but/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-compensations-of-calamity-are-made-apparent-to-the-understanding/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Explore all 4,802 Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. 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Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. 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