--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The primordial blessing, 'increase and…" description: "\"The primordial blessing, 'increase and multiply', has suddenly become a hemorrhage of terror. We are numbered in billions, and massed together, marshal..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cb/thomas-merton-231_billions_the-primordial-blessing-increase-and-mul_3069120.jpg" --- # The primordial blessing, 'increase and multiply', has… ![“The primordial blessing, 'increase and multiply', has suddenly become a hemorrhage of terror. We are numbered in billions, and massed together, marshalled, numbered, marched here and there, taxed, drilled, armed, worked to the point of insensibility, dazed by information, drugged by entertainment…” quote by Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cb/thomas-merton-231_billions_the-primordial-blessing-increase-and-mul_3069120.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cb/thomas-merton-231_billions_the-primordial-blessing-increase-and-mul_3069120.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cb/thomas-merton-231_billions_the-primordial-blessing-increase-and-mul_3069120.jpg) > “The primordial blessing, 'increase and multiply', has suddenly become a hemorrhage of terror. We are numbered in billions, and massed together, marshalled, numbered, marched here and there, taxed, drilled, armed, worked to the point of insensibility, dazed by information, drugged by entertainment, surfeited with everything, nauseated with the human race and with ourselves, nauseated with life.” [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human overpopulation and modern excess create existential terror and numbness. **In simple terms:** Overpopulation leads to dread. Key Takeaway Address overconsumption and find meaning. Themes environment existence overpopulation Mood somber critical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - urban planning - mental health - policy making Key Concepts philosophy sociology Questions to Reflect On - How does modern life numb you? - What changes could reduce this terror? A Different Perspective Solutions are complex and contested. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blessing/) [Blessings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blessings/) [Dazed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dazed/) [Entertainment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entertainment/) [Human race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-race/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Insensibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insensibility/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) ## Related quotes > [ \[Christianity\] neither enjoins the nastiness of the Cynic, nor the insensibility of the Stoic. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/christianity-neither-enjoins-the-nastiness-of-the-cynic-nor-the/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [Much of the insensibility and hardness of the world is due to the lack of imagination which prevents a realization of the experiences of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/much-of-the-insensibility-and-hardness-of-the-world-is-due-to-the/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [We have seen when the earth had to be prepared for the habitation of man, a veil, as it were, of intermediate being was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/we-have-seen-when-the-earth-had-to-be-prepared-for-the-habitation-of/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [As fate is inexorable, and not to be moved either with tears or reproaches, an excess of sorrow is as foolish as profuse laughter;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/as-fate-is-inexorable-and-not-to-be-moved-either-with-tears-or/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [To strive with difficulties, and to conquer them, is the highest human felicity; 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