Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio.
Thomas MalthusRead
The great and unlooked for discoveries that have taken place of late years have all concurred to lead many men into the opinion that we were touching on a period big with the most important changes.
Interpretation
Malthus reflects on recent discoveries that suggest significant changes are imminent.
In this quote, Thomas Malthus discusses how recent unforeseen discoveries have prompted many people to believe that society is on the brink of momentous transformations. He implies that these changes could redefine human existence and the understanding of our world, urging a focus on the implications of these advancements.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about technological advancements and their impact on society.
Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio.
The prodigious waste of human life occasioned by this perpetual struggle for room and food, was more than supplied by the mighty power of population, acting, in some degree, unshackled, from the constant habit of emigration.
The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man.
The rich, by unfair combinations, contribute frequently to prolong a season of distress among the poor.
In a state therefore of great equality and virtue, where pure and simple manners prevailed, the increase of the human species would evidently be much greater than any increase that has been hitherto known.
I think it will be found that experience, _x000D_ the true source and foundation of all knowledge, _x000D_ invariably confirms its truth.
Passive fatalism can never be the role of a revolutionary party, like the Social Democracy.
I think the fossil fuel industry is genuinely freaked out by the combination of the price collapse, the divestment movement, and that fact that renewable energy is getting so cheap so fast.
Until we see what we are, we cannot take steps to become what we should be.
Everywhere we go and move on and change, something's lost--something's left behind. You can't ever quite repeat anything, and I've been so yours, here--
One white man on the platform in South Carolina asked us where we were going--we had got off the train to get some fresh air and to dust the grit and dust out of our clothes. When we said Africa he looked offended and tickled too. Niggers going to Africa, he said to his wife. Now I have seen everything.
Gaps don't/just happen./There is a/generative element/inside them,/a welling motion/ as when cold/waters shoulder/up through/warmer oceans./And where gaps/choose to widen,/coordinates warp,/even in places/constant since/the oldest maps.
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