"The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization"
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
About this Quote
Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote recommends that the supreme death of the mankind will be triggered by the very thing that has actually enabled its success: civilization. This indicates that the development of civilization, while helpful in the short-term, will eventually cause the failure of mankind. This might be analyzed as a caution against the risks of uncontrolled progress and the need for balance in between development and sustainability. It could also be viewed as a suggestion that, despite our best efforts, our species is eventually mortal and will eventually succumb to the forces of nature. Eventually, Emerson's quote acts as a suggestion that, while civilization has enabled us to attain excellent things, it is also a double-edged sword that might eventually lead to our failure.
"While civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them. It has created palaces, but it was not so easy to create noblemen and kings"
"Noble life demands a noble architecture for noble uses of noble men. Lack of culture means what it has always meant: ignoble civilization and therefore imminent downfall"
