--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Men have gained control over the forces…" description: "\"Men have gained control over the forces of nature to such an extent that with their help they would have no difficulty exterminating one another to the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/145/sigmund-freud-360_anxiety_men-have-gained-control-over-the-forces_1101270.jpg" --- # Men have gained control over the forces of nature to such… ![“Men have gained control over the forces of nature to such an extent that with their help they would have no difficulty exterminating one another to the last man. They know this, and hence comes a large part of their current unrest, their unhappiness and their mood of anxiety.” quote by Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/145/sigmund-freud-360_anxiety_men-have-gained-control-over-the-forces_1101270.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/145/sigmund-freud-360_anxiety_men-have-gained-control-over-the-forces_1101270.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/145/sigmund-freud-360_anxiety_men-have-gained-control-over-the-forces_1101270.jpg) > “Men have gained control over the forces of nature to such an extent that with their help they would have no difficulty exterminating one another to the last man. They know this, and hence comes a large part of their current unrest, their unhappiness and their mood of anxiety.” [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human mastery over nature creates the capacity for self‑destruction, fueling collective anxiety. **In simple terms:** Power over nature can lead to self‑destruction and anxiety. Key Takeaway Beware the dangers of unchecked power. Themes power anxiety self‑destruction civilization Mood concerned serious Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - political policy - environmental crisis - military escalation - mental health Key Concepts technology psychology existential risk Questions to Reflect On - How can societies channel power responsibly? - What safeguards can reduce existential risk? A Different Perspective It may overlook human resilience and cooperation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anxiety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxiety/) [Forces of nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forces-of-nature/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mood/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) [Unhappiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappiness/) [Unrest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unrest/) ## Related quotes > [The mechanical mind has a passion for control - of everything except itself. Beyond the control it has won over the forces of nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-p-jacks/the-mechanical-mind-has-a-passion-for-control-of-everything-except/) [L. P. Jacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-p-jacks/) > [To be happy is only to have freed one's soul from the unrest of unhappiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/to-be-happy-is-only-to-have-freed-one-s-soul-from-the-unrest-of/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [The Gods are but names for the forces of Nature themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/the-gods-are-but-names-for-the-forces-of-nature-themselves/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Other things, like capitalism, free enterprise, the economy, currency, the market, are not forces of nature, we invented them. They are not immutable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/other-things-like-capitalism-free-enterprise-the-economy-currency-the/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [We're all moving to a world where the forces of nature come closer together to technology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shilo-shiv-suleman/we-re-all-moving-to-a-world-where-the-forces-of-nature-come-closer/) Shilo Shiv Suleman > [It's amazing the gymnastics you can do when you don't want to do something. How you can force yourself against all the forces of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-taylor/it-s-amazing-the-gymnastics-you-can-do-when-you-don-t-want-to-do/) [Elizabeth Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-taylor/) > [We can't control forces of nature. But we can control what comes afterward. We have a chance to start fresh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-p-hunt/we-can-t-control-forces-of-nature-but-we-can-control-what-comes/) George W. P. Hunt > [YOU have meddled with the primal forces of nature and YOU! WILL! ATONE!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-jensen/you-have-meddled-with-the-primal-forces-of-nature-and-you-will-atone/) [Arthur Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-jensen/) > [Man cannot influence in this respect the atomic forces of Nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/man-cannot-influence-in-this-respect-the-atomic-forces-of-nature/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [Forces of nature act in a mysterious manner. We can but solve the mystery by deducing the unknown result from the known results of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/forces-of-nature-act-in-a-mysterious-manner-we-can-but-solve-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The desire that guides me in all I do is the desire to harness the forces of nature to the service of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/the-desire-that-guides-me-in-all-i-do-is-the-desire-to-harness-the/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) > [The imagination is one of the forces of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-imagination-is-one-of-the-forces-of-nature/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [It was through the Second World War that most of us suddenlyappreciated for the first time the power of man's concentrated efforts to understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vannevar-bush/it-was-through-the-second-world-war-that-most-of-us/) [Vannevar Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vannevar-bush/) > [The same forces of nature which enable us to fly to the stars, enable us also to destroy our star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wernher-von-braun/the-same-forces-of-nature-which-enable-us-to-fly-to-the-stars-enable/) [Wernher von Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wernher-von-braun/) > [The force of nonviolence is infinitely more wonderful and subtle than the material forces of nature, like electricity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-force-of-nonviolence-is-infinitely-more-wonderful-and-subtle-than/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More by Sigmund Freud > [Anatomy is destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/anatomy-is-destiny/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Woe to you, my Princess, when I come. I will kiss you quite red and feed you till you are plump. And if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/woe-to-you-my-princess-when-i-come-i-will-kiss-you-quite-red-and-feed/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [I take up the standpoint that the tendency to aggression is an innate, independent, instinctual disposition in man, and I come back now to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/i-take-up-the-standpoint-that-the-tendency-to-aggression-is-an-innate/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Ko postavlja pitanje o smislu zivota,s njegovim libidom nije nesto u redu.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/ko-postavlja-pitanje-o-smislu-zivota-s-njegovim-libidom-nije-nesto-u/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“When it comes to the small matters in life one should think long and hard, but when it comes to the big ones -whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/when-it-comes-to-the-small-matters-in-life-one-should-think-long-and/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [We like to forget that in fact everything in our life is chance, from our genesis out of the encounter of spermatozoon and egg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/we-like-to-forget-that-in-fact-everything-in-our-life-is-chance-from/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [We should picture the instrument that carries our mental functioning as resembling a compound microscope or photographic apparatus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/we-should-picture-the-instrument-that-carries-our-mental-functioning/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The religions of mankind must be classed among the mass-delusions of this kind. No one, needless to say, who shares a delusion ever recognizes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-religions-of-mankind-must-be-classed-among-the-mass-delusions-of/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [It seems to be my fate to discover only the obvious: that children have sexual feelings, which every nurse maid knows; and that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/it-seems-to-be-my-fate-to-discover-only-the-obvious-that-children/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The first requisite of civilization is that of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-first-requisite-of-civilization-is-that-of-justice/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Actually, the substitution of the reality-principle for the pleasure-principle denotes no dethronement of the pleasure-principle, but only a safeguarding of it. A momentary pleasure,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/actually-the-substitution-of-the-reality-principle-for-the-pleasure/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/dreams-are-often-most-profound-when-they-seem-the-most-crazy/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Against the suffering which may come upon one from human relationships the readiest safeguard is voluntary isolation, keeping oneself aloof from other people. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/against-the-suffering-which-may-come-upon-one-from-human/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [There is to my mind no doubt that the concept of beautiful had its roots in sexual excitation and that its original meaning was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/there-is-to-my-mind-no-doubt-that-the-concept-of-beautiful-had-its/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The voice of the intellect is soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing. 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If I'm nervous I know I'm going to have a good show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beyonce-knowles/i-get-nervous-when-i-don-t-get-nervous-if-i-m-nervous-i-know-i-m/) [Beyonce Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beyonce-knowles/) > [“Every invention comes through anxiousness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakesh-wadhwani/every-invention-comes-through-anxiousness/) [Rakesh Wadhwani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakesh-wadhwani/) > [“Do Not Be Anxious 25 e “Therefore I tell you,  f do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-not-be-anxious-25-e-therefore-i-tell-you-f-do-not-be-anxious-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nothing happens on its own, you have to make things happen. If you really want to come out of your stressful situation than you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subodh-gupta/nothing-happens-on-its-own-you-have-to-make-things-happen-if-you/) [Subodh Gupta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subodh-gupta/) > [“I guess if we're talking about my anxiety, the even truthier truth is it started way before that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-winfrey/i-guess-if-we-re-talking-about-my-anxiety-the-even-truthier-truth-is/) [Kerry Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-winfrey/) > [I was a very good student. Procrastinating gives me anxiety, and getting a B really ticked me off. Sure, I didn't always want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josie-loren/i-was-a-very-good-student-procrastinating-gives-me-anxiety-and/) [Josie Loren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josie-loren/) > [“The suspense: the fearful, acute suspense: of standing idly by while the life of one we dearly love, is trembling in the balance; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-suspense-the-fearful-acute-suspense-of-standing-idly-by-while-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [As you know, I have been very open about my struggle with social anxiety.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/summer-walker/as-you-know-i-have-been-very-open-about-my-struggle-with-social/) [Summer Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/summer-walker/) > [Anxiety is not to be managed it is a sin that needs to be repented of](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-driscoll/anxiety-is-not-to-be-managed-it-is-a-sin-that-needs-to-be-repented-of/) [Mark Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-driscoll/) > [“I’ve always seen this in you, ever since you were a little girl — this hunger to love other people into their highest selves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-elisabeth/i-ve-always-seen-this-in-you-ever-since-you-were-a-little-girl-this/) [Jennifer Elisabeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-elisabeth/) [Browse all 4,944 Anxiety quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxiety/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Men have gained control over the forces of nature to such an extent that with their help they would have no difficulty exterminating one another to the last man. 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