--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The population of the world is a…" description: "\"The population of the world is a conditional population; these are not the best, but the best that could live in the existing state of soils, gases, an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_animal_the-population-of-the-world-is-a-conditi_3138141.jpg" --- # The population of the world is a conditional population… ![“The population of the world is a conditional population; these are not the best, but the best that could live in the existing state of soils, gases, animals, and morals: the best that could yet live; there shall be a better, please God.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_animal_the-population-of-the-world-is-a-conditi_3138141.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_animal_the-population-of-the-world-is-a-conditi_3138141.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_animal_the-population-of-the-world-is-a-conditi_3138141.jpg) > “The population of the world is a conditional population; these are not the best, but the best that could live in the existing state of soils, gases, animals, and morals: the best that could yet live; there shall be a better, please God.” [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. The quote suggests humanity is limited by environmental and moral conditions, yet there is hope for improvement through divine or moral progress. **In simple terms:** Humanity is constrained by nature and morals but can improve. Key Takeaway Seek to improve conditions within existing limits. Themes environment ethics humanity hope progress Mood thoughtful optimistic serious Type ethical environmental spiritual When to use this quote - policy making - environmental activism - ethical education - spiritual reflection Key Concepts ecology moral philosophy theodicy Questions to Reflect On - What actions can individuals take to improve moral and environmental conditions? - Can hope alone drive meaningful change? A Different Perspective Improvement may be unrealistic without systemic change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [ I wanted to show what it's really like for 98 percent of the world's population \[in the third world\]. Plus, I also see there… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lurlene-mcdaniel/i-wanted-to-show-what-it-s-really-like-for-98-percent-of-the-world-s/) [Lurlene McDaniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lurlene-mcdaniel/) > [Human beings, because we're so clever, have removed every single one of those population limiting factors... So nothing controls our increase in numbers except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/human-beings-because-we-re-so-clever-have-removed-every-single-one-of/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [The Internet is an élite organization; most of the population of the world has never even made a phone call.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-internet-is-an-lite-organization-most-of-the-population-of-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The problem the world faces today is that only one-third of the world's population lives in decent circumstances, while half the population of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/the-problem-the-world-faces-today-is-that-only-one-third-of-the-world/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [In my lifetime, the population of the world has doubled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-campbell/in-my-lifetime-the-population-of-the-world-has-doubled/) [Dallas Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-campbell/) > [If the children already born each have only two children themselves ... in twenty-seven to thirty-five years the population of the world will double.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/if-the-children-already-born-each-have-only-two-children-themselves/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [Women are half the population of the world, and yet there are so few female characters on-screen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geena-davis/women-are-half-the-population-of-the-world-and-yet-there-are-so-few/) [Geena Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geena-davis/) > [If you look at the population of the world you have roughly 15% that will always be resisting advertising. Fifteen percent of something which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-levy/if-you-look-at-the-population-of-the-world-you-have-roughly-15-that/) [Maurice Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-levy/) > [Suppose atomic bombs had reduced the population of the world to one brother and sister; should they let the human race die out?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/suppose-atomic-bombs-had-reduced-the-population-of-the-world-to-one/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [1,16,23,68,920 total number of girl population around the world what made you think I cant live without you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chops/1-16-23-68-920-total-number-of-girl-population-around-the-world-what/) [Chops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chops/) > [Today the United States has the highest prison population in the world, over 2.1 million people. ... We lock people up at a rate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/today-the-united-states-has-the-highest-prison-population-in-the/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [“the population of the world grew at an average annual rate of barely 0.8 percent between 1700 and 2012.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/the-population-of-the-world-grew-at-an-average-annual-rate-of-barely/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [There are more microbes per person than the entire population of the world. Imagine that. Per person. This means that if the time scale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/there-are-more-microbes-per-person-than-the-entire-population-of-the/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [Very few of our race can be said to be yet finished men. We still carry sticking to us some remains of the preceding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/very-few-of-our-race-can-be-said-to-be-yet-finished-men-we-still/) [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/) ## 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 Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. 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He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. 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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/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [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/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The population of the world is a conditional population; these are not the best, but the best that could live in the existing state of soils, gases, animals, and morals: the best that could yet live; there shall be a better, please God.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-population-of-the-world-is-a-conditional-population-these-are-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-population-of-the-world-is-a-conditional-population-these-are-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_animal_the-population-of-the-world-is-a-conditi_3138141.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_animal_the-population-of-the-world-is-a-conditi_3138141.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_animal_the-population-of-the-world-is-a-conditi_3138141.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The population of the world is a conditional population; these are not the best, but the best that could…” — Ralph Waldo Emerson", "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": "Ralph Waldo Emerson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The population of the world is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-population-of-the-world-is-a-conditional-population-these-are-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-population-of-the-world-is-a-conditional-population-these-are-not/#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 } } ] } ```