Quotes about Catastrophic Outcome

Mao Zedong

The prospect of a nuclear war is not a bad thing because defeating capitalism would be worth losing up to two-thirds of the world’s population.

This is a very important quotation. It is often cited by preventive war hawks to show that deterrence might not be a sufficient inhibitor against an extreme ideological enemy. In this case it was political philosophy that would make the enemy willing to have the majority of its population die to reach the ideological objective. More fearful is the prospect of the Theocracy of Iran where the leaders may believe that nuclear jihad is a commandment of God. More critical is the Islamic theology which says that if most of the Iranian Muslim population die in a nuclear war that they start all those people will be martyrs and immediately go to God’s Paradise. Thus, even the dead Muslims are not victims and the nonbelievers should be killed. For extremely fanatical Muslims nuclear war can be a logical and holy course of action.

Sam Altman

AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime, there'll be great companies.

Joseph Fouché

It is worse than a crime. It is a blunder. C'est plus qu'un crime. C'est une faute.

Louis Antoine Henri de Bourbon-Condé, the Duke of Enghien, was falsely accused of plotting against the French government. He was arrested and hung, to the dismay of Napoleon's court. The famous and feared Fouché was heard to say contemptuously: The quotation may first have been uttered at the May 21 execution by Boulay de la Meurthe.

Joseph Rotblat

This is the reality of nuclear weapons: they may trigger a world war; a war which, unlike previous ones, destroys all of civilization.

Anthony Fauci

I think it would be over-exaggeration to think that there are millions of viruses ready to jump on us and bring us back to the 14th century. That would be looking over a ledge that isn't there.

Tim Ferriss

What's the worst that could happen?

Theodore Kaczynski

If the system breaks down the consequences will still be very painful. But the bigger the system grows the more disastrous the results of its breakdown will be, so if it is to break down it had best break down sooner rather than later.

Lawrence Eagleburger

One nuclear war is going to be the last nuclear - the last war, frankly, if it really gets out of hand. And I just don't think we ought to be prepared to accept that sort of thing.

Richard Nixon

I can go into my office and pick up the telephone, and in 23 minutes 70 million people will be dead.

He had been asked if the impeachment proceedings weakened him as the President.

Sam Harris

Needless to say, this would be an unthinkable crime—as it would kill tens of millions of innocent civilians in a single day—but it may be the only course of action available to us, given what Islamists believe

Donald Trump

Sometimes I'll make a statement they'll say, this is the end. This is the end! Right? This is the end. It's finally going to happen.

Ludwig von Mises

Continued inflation inevitably leads to catastrophe.

James Lovelock

We are in a fool's climate, accidentally kept cool by smoke, and before this century is over billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable.