--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the twenty-first century fiction might…" description: "\"“In the twenty-first century fiction might thereby become the most potent force on earth, surpassing even wayward asteroids and natural selection.”\" — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2db/yuval-noah-harari-100_fiction_in-the-twenty-first-century-fiction-migh_2912237.jpg" --- # In the twenty-first century fiction might thereby become… ![“In the twenty-first century fiction might thereby become the most potent force on earth, surpassing even wayward asteroids and natural selection.” quote by Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2db/yuval-noah-harari-100_fiction_in-the-twenty-first-century-fiction-migh_2912237.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2db/yuval-noah-harari-100_fiction_in-the-twenty-first-century-fiction-migh_2912237.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2db/yuval-noah-harari-100_fiction_in-the-twenty-first-century-fiction-migh_2912237.jpg) > ““In the twenty-first century fiction might thereby become the most potent force on earth, surpassing even wayward asteroids and natural selection.”” [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fiction can shape humanity’s future more powerfully than natural forces or random events. **In simple terms:** Stories influence real‑world outcomes. Key Takeaway Use storytelling to guide societal change. Themes culture future influence Mood thoughtful visionary Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - political campaigns - education reform - media creation - public policy Key Concepts narrative power fictional impact Questions to Reflect On - How can stories responsibly reflect scientific truths? - What narratives are needed for sustainable futures? A Different Perspective Fiction may oversimplify complex realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Natural selection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-selection/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [Fiction is a potent agent for good--in the hands of the good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-curchod/fiction-is-a-potent-agent-for-good-in-the-hands-of-the-good/) [Suzanne Curchod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-curchod/) > [I love 19th century fiction and, in particular, fiction written by and about women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/i-love-19th-century-fiction-and-in-particular-fiction-written-by-and/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [You possess a potent force that you either use, or misuse, hundreds of times every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-martin-kohe/you-possess-a-potent-force-that-you-either-use-or-misuse-hundreds-of/) [J. Martin Kohe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-martin-kohe/) > [It was the ponderous battering ram of his novels that opened the way through the genteel reticences of American nineteenth-century fiction. . . Without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/it-was-the-ponderous-battering-ram-of-his-novels-that-opened-the-way/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [“History in the storyteller's hand was a potent force indeed,…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/history-in-the-storyteller-s-hand-was-a-potent-force-indeed/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Oh! that gentleness! how far more potent is it than force!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/oh-that-gentleness-how-far-more-potent-is-it-than-force/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [I collect books, primarily first-edition 20th-century fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-larroquette/i-collect-books-primarily-first-edition-20th-century-fiction/) [John Larroquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-larroquette/) > [On our knees we are the most powerful force on earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/on-our-knees-we-are-the-most-powerful-force-on-earth/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [The most powerful force on earth is Love. It conquers all barriers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/the-most-powerful-force-on-earth-is-love-it-conquers-all-barriers/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [The life-force may be the least understood force on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-cousins/the-life-force-may-be-the-least-understood-force-on-earth/) [Norman Cousins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-cousins/) > [Truth is the most powerful force on earth because it cannot be changed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-murdock/truth-is-the-most-powerful-force-on-earth-because-it-cannot-be-changed/) [Mike Murdock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-murdock/) > [Persistence is the most powerful force on earth, it can move mountains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/persistence-is-the-most-powerful-force-on-earth-it-can-move-mountains/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/no-force-on-earth-can-stop-an-idea-whose-time-has-come/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Today, the 4-billion-year-old regime of natural selection is facing a completely different challenge. In laboratories throughout the world, scientists are engineering living beings. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/today-the-4-billion-year-old-regime-of-natural-selection-is-facing-a/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“The scientists not only sanctified human feelings, but also found an excellent evolutionary reason to do so. After Darwin, biologists began explaining that feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-scientists-not-only-sanctified-human-feelings-but-also-found-an/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## More by Yuval Noah Harari > [“For similar reasons, archaic humans did not initiate any revolutions. As far as we can tell, changes in social patterns, the invention of new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/for-similar-reasons-archaic-humans-did-not-initiate-any-revolutions/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Today the main source of wealth is knowledge. And whereas you can conquer oil fields through war, you cannot acquire knowledge that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/today-the-main-source-of-wealth-is-knowledge-and-whereas-you-can/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy or capitalism? First, you never admit that the order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/how-do-you-cause-people-to-believe-in-an-imagined-order-such-as/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [I think the basic thing that happened is we have lost our story. Humans think in stories, and we try to make sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/i-think-the-basic-thing-that-happened-is-we-have-lost-our-story/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas chimpanzees spend five hours a day chewing raw food, a single hour suffices for people eating cooked food. The advent of cooking enabled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-chimpanzees-spend-five-hours-a-day-chewing-raw-food-a-single/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“the Chinese air-purification market is booming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-chinese-air-purification-market-is-booming/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas liberalism merged with the milder versions of nationalism to protect the unique experiences of each human community, evolutionary humanists such as Hitler identified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-liberalism-merged-with-the-milder-versions-of-nationalism-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Corporations, money and nations exist only in our imagination. We invented them to serve us; why do we find ourselves sacrificing our lives in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/corporations-money-and-nations-exist-only-in-our-imagination-we/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Small children in affluent societies often dislike showering, and it takes them years of education and parental discipline to adopt this supposedly attractive custom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/small-children-in-affluent-societies-often-dislike-showering-and-it/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Ever more scholars see cultures as a kind of mental infection or parasite, with humans as its unwitting host. Organic parasites, such as viruses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/ever-more-scholars-see-cultures-as-a-kind-of-mental-infection-or/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Soviet Communism was a fanatical and missionary religion. A devout Communist could not be a Christian or a Buddhist, and was expected to spread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/soviet-communism-was-a-fanatical-and-missionary-religion-a-devout/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas religion asks us to believe in something, money asks us to believe that other people believe in something”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-religion-asks-us-to-believe-in-something-money-asks-us-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Terrorists are like a fly that tries to destroy a china shop. The fly is so weak that it cannot budge even a single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/terrorists-are-like-a-fly-that-tries-to-destroy-a-china-shop-the-fly/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Yet what happens if the greedy shoemaker increases his profits by paying employees less and increasing their work hours? The standard answer is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/yet-what-happens-if-the-greedy-shoemaker-increases-his-profits-by/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“A natural order is a stable order. There is no chance that gravity will cease to function tomorrow, even if people stop believing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/a-natural-order-is-a-stable-order-there-is-no-chance-that-gravity/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) [Explore all 1,200 Yuval Noah Harari quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## More Fiction quotes > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) Phil Hogan > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) Edward Einhorn > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) Coheed and Cambria > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-weatherly/) > [Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/inspiration-comes-from-so-many-sources-music-other-fiction-the-non/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“His hands on my waist he gently pulled me n embrace. I could feel his breath on my face our lips were about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-eglinger/his-hands-on-my-waist-he-gently-pulled-me-n-embrace-i-could-feel-his/) [Nicole Eglinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-eglinger/) > [In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rooney/in-early-drafts-one-of-the-trickiest-things-for-me-to-do-was-to/) [Kathleen Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rooney/) > [I don't think it's always a sign of respect for persons (inside or outside of fiction) to pretend to be able to represent, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-think-it-s-always-a-sign-of-respect-for-persons-inside-or/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Metafiction says something. It has to do with taking a large fiction itself and writing within it; that kind of self-reflecting writing that emerges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/metafiction-says-something-it-has-to-do-with-taking-a-large-fiction/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) [Browse all 7,410 Fiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In the twenty-first century fiction might thereby become the most potent force on earth, surpassing even wayward asteroids and natural selection.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Yuval Noah Harari" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/in-the-twenty-first-century-fiction-might-thereby-become-the-most/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fiction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/in-the-twenty-first-century-fiction-might-thereby-become-the-most/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2db/yuval-noah-harari-100_fiction_in-the-twenty-first-century-fiction-migh_2912237.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2db/yuval-noah-harari-100_fiction_in-the-twenty-first-century-fiction-migh_2912237.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2db/yuval-noah-harari-100_fiction_in-the-twenty-first-century-fiction-migh_2912237.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the twenty-first century fiction might thereby become the most potent force on earth, surpassing even…” — Yuval Noah Harari", "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": "Yuval Noah Harari", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In the twenty-first century fiction might...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/in-the-twenty-first-century-fiction-might-thereby-become-the-most/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/in-the-twenty-first-century-fiction-might-thereby-become-the-most/#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 } } ] } ```