--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What will be lost, and what saved, of our…" description: "\"“What will be lost, and what saved, of our civilization probably lies beyond our powers to decide. No human group has ever figured out how to design it..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8b/thomas-cahill-24308_future_what-will-be-lost-and-what-saved-of-our_2767590.jpg" --- # What will be lost, and what saved, of our civilization… ![“What will be lost, and what saved, of our civilization probably lies beyond our powers to decide. No human group has ever figured out how to design its future. That future may be germinating today not in a boardroom in London or an office in Washington or a bank in Tokyo, but in some antic outpost…” quote by Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8b/thomas-cahill-24308_future_what-will-be-lost-and-what-saved-of-our_2767590.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8b/thomas-cahill-24308_future_what-will-be-lost-and-what-saved-of-our_2767590.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8b/thomas-cahill-24308_future_what-will-be-lost-and-what-saved-of-our_2767590.jpg) > ““What will be lost, and what saved, of our civilization probably lies beyond our powers to decide. No human group has ever figured out how to design its future. That future may be germinating today not in a boardroom in London or an office in Washington or a bank in Tokyo, but in some antic outpost or other -- a kindly British orphanage in the grim foothills of Peru, a house for the dying in a back street of Calcutta run by a fiercely single-minded Albanian nun, an easy-going French medical team at the starving edge of the Sahel, a mission to Somalia by Irish social workers who remember their own Great Hunger, a nursery program to assist convict-mothers at a New York Prison -- in some unheralded corner where a great-hearted human being is committed to loving o9utcasts in an extraordinary way.”” [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) ## 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 that the most profound impacts on civilization arise from humble, unnoticed acts of compassion rather than grand institutional decisions. **In simple terms:** Great change often comes from small, caring actions. Key Takeaway Value and support grassroots kindness. Themes compassion humanity grassroots impact social impact leadership Mood inspired hopeful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - community aid - healthcare in poverty - education for marginalized - environmental relief - social entrepreneurship Key Concepts ethical responsibility collective good empowerment Questions to Reflect On - How can we amplify the influence of small acts? - What structures can support grassroots compassion? 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There is a great hunger for God in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/people-are-hungry-for-something-more-beautiful-for-something-greater/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [Today's parents have little authority over those others with whom they share the task of raising their children. On the contrary,most parents deal with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-keniston/today-s-parents-have-little-authority-over-those-others-with-whom/) [Kenneth Keniston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-keniston/) > [“What sticks with me now is that this man said he needed to get to a hospital. He probably needed to reach his destination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-nielsen/what-sticks-with-me-now-is-that-this-man-said-he-needed-to-get-to-a/) Susan Nielsen > [“The only word these corporations know is more,” wrote Chris Hedges, former correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, and the New York…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-marrs/the-only-word-these-corporations-know-is-more-wrote-chris-hedges/) [Jim Marrs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-marrs/) > [“Those of us who work in the field of trauma and abuse, whether psychologists, psychoanalysts, social workers, doctors, counselors, or psychotherapists, have been provided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-sinason/those-of-us-who-work-in-the-field-of-trauma-and-abuse-whether/) [Valerie Sinason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-sinason/) > [“I regretted my human form briefly; it would be so much easier to drag and rope information into the brain as neatly as one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-johnson/i-regretted-my-human-form-briefly-it-would-be-so-much-easier-to-drag/) [Marilyn Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-johnson/) > [“Research on organised abuse emphasises the diversity of organised abuse cases, and the ways in which serious forms of child maltreatment cluster in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/research-on-organised-abuse-emphasises-the-diversity-of-organised/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [“Blaming therapy, social work and other caring professions for the confabulation of testimony of 'satanic ritual abuse' legitimated a programme of political and social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/blaming-therapy-social-work-and-other-caring-professions-for-the/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [The "health, education, and welfare" section of government is another boondoggle. First we manufacture indigent and superfluous people by legal monopolies in land, money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurance-labadie/the-health-education-and-welfare-section-of-government-is-another/) [Laurance Labadie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurance-labadie/) ## More by Thomas Cahill > [“The phrase "the violent bear it away" fascinated the 20th century Irish-American storyteller Flannery O'Connor, who used it as the title of one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/the-phrase-the-violent-bear-it-away-fascinated-the-20th-century-irish/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [“In becoming an Irishman, Patrick wedded his world to theirs, his faith to their life…Patrick found a way of swimming down to the depths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/in-becoming-an-irishman-patrick-wedded-his-world-to-theirs-his-faith/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [Wherever they went the Irish brought with them their books, many unseen in Europe for centuries and tied to their waists as signs of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/wherever-they-went-the-irish-brought-with-them-their-books-many/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [How real is history? Is it just an enormous soup so full of disparate ingredients that it is uncharacterizable?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/how-real-is-history-is-it-just-an-enormous-soup-so-full-of-disparate/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [The Irish innovation was to make all confession a completely private affair between penitent and priest - and to make it as repeatable as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/the-irish-innovation-was-to-make-all-confession-a-completely-private/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [“They understood, as few have understood before or since, how fleeting life is and how pointless to try to hold on to things or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/they-understood-as-few-have-understood-before-or-since-how-fleeting/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [“We followed the rump of a misguiding woman. It is the usual thing for a herd led by a mare to be strayed and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/we-followed-the-rump-of-a-misguiding-woman-it-is-the-usual-thing-for/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [“Cujus regio, ejus religio (Whose region it is, his is the religion).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/cujus-regio-ejus-religio-whose-region-it-is-his-is-the-religion/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [We can hardly get up in the morning or cross the street without being Jewish. We dream Jewish dreams and hope Jewish hopes. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/we-can-hardly-get-up-in-the-morning-or-cross-the-street-without-being/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [“I see a sweet country. I could rest my weapon there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/i-see-a-sweet-country-i-could-rest-my-weapon-there/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [(The festival) was awfully impersonal and abstract and there was something really gloomy about it, ... That's when I first started thinking about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/the-festival-was-awfully-impersonal-and-abstract-and-there-was/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [“We will never make it under our own stem. Having made this connection, Augustine falls apart. What he describes at this point in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/we-will-never-make-it-under-our-own-stem-having-made-this-connection/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [The Jews started it all-and by 'it' I mean so many of the things we care about, the underlying values that make all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/the-jews-started-it-all-and-by-it-i-mean-so-many-of-the-things-we/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [The Irish believed that gods, druids, poets, and others in touch with the magical world could be literal shape-shifters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/the-irish-believed-that-gods-druids-poets-and-others-in-touch-with/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) > [Is is seldom possible to say of the medievals that they \*always\* did one thing and \*never\* another; they were marvelously inconsistent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cahill/is-is-seldom-possible-to-say-of-the-medievals-that-they-always-did/) [Thomas Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) [Explore all 24 Thomas Cahill quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cahill/) ## More Future quotes > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [In the future, I would like to do more films with contemporary themes. Perhaps comedy, which is something I have done in theater but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-evans/in-the-future-i-would-like-to-do-more-films-with-contemporary-themes/) [Luke Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-evans/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you can connect people, you can create the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-heiferman/if-you-can-connect-people-you-can-create-the-future/) [Scott Heiferman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-heiferman/) > [A strong, durable Puerto Rican economy will leave the island better prepared to handle future natural disasters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-campos-duffy/a-strong-durable-puerto-rican-economy-will-leave-the-island-better/) [Rachel Campos-Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-campos-duffy/) > [“We have no idea, now, of who or what the inhabitants of our future might be. In that sense, we have no future. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/we-have-no-idea-now-of-who-or-what-the-inhabitants-of-our-future/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“You are destiny for greatness. Your future is in the hands of the Lord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/you-are-destiny-for-greatness-your-future-is-in-the-hands-of-the-lord/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I'm just always looking forwards. I spend very little time, looking backwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-vaynerchuk/i-m-just-always-looking-forwards-i-spend-very-little-time-looking/) [Gary Vaynerchuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-vaynerchuk/) > [Football is my passion, and who knows where I will play in the future - you cannot foresee that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edinson-cavani/football-is-my-passion-and-who-knows-where-i-will-play-in-the-future/) [Edinson Cavani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edinson-cavani/) > [When I was 17, I broke up with my future wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kris-allen/when-i-was-17-i-broke-up-with-my-future-wife/) [Kris Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kris-allen/) > [I think everybody in the future has stopped talking to each other and we all just use emojis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-moffatt/i-think-everybody-in-the-future-has-stopped-talking-to-each-other-and/) [Scarlett Moffatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-moffatt/) > [When you continue to dwell on the past, there's no chance for a future. History repeats itself, thus, it's ok to LOOK back at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-continue-to-dwell-on-the-past-there-s-no-chance-for-a-future/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am no different from a lot of people. I am concerned for the future of my children and concerned for the future of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barnes/i-am-no-different-from-a-lot-of-people-i-am-concerned-for-the-future/) [John Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barnes/) > [Starting a new job can be nerve-racking , but it's also exciting. You're embarking on a new future, positioning yourself to write a fresh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adena-friedman/starting-a-new-job-can-be-nerve-racking-but-it-s-also-exciting-you-re/) [Adena Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adena-friedman/) [Browse all 12,349 Future quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What will be lost, and what saved, of our civilization probably lies beyond our powers to decide. No human group has ever figured out how to design its future. 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