Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no need of change.
H. G. WellsRead
... when the struggle seems to be drifting definitely towards a world social democracy, there may still be very great delays and disappointments before it becomes an efficient and beneficent world system. Countless people ... will hate the New World Order and will die protesting against it. When we attempt to evaluate its promise, we have to bear in mind the distress of a generation or so of malcontents, many of them quite gallant and graceful-looking people.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the challenges and resistance faced in moving towards a world social democracy, emphasizing the struggle and dissent that accompany significant societal change.
H. G. Wells highlights the inevitability of resistance and disappointment in the journey towards a world social democracy. Despite the hopeful promise of such a system, the transition is fraught with struggles, as many individuals will oppose this change, often passionately. The quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing those who oppose new systems, suggesting that their distress and grievances should not be overlooked, as they are often emblematic of deeper societal issues.
Themes
Social DemocracyResistanceChangeStruggleSociety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about social justice to illustrate the obstacles faced in creating equitable systems.
More from H. G. Wells
All quotes →He spares no resource in telling of his dead inventions... Bare verbs he rarely tolerates. He splits infinitives and fills them up with adverbial stuffing. He presses the passing colloquialism into his service. His vast paragraphis sweat and struggle; the
H. G. WellsRead
It [a new world order] needs only that the governments of Britain, the United States, France, Germany, and Russia should get together in order to set up an effective control of currency, credit, production, and distribution – that is to say, an effective ‘dictatorship of prosperity,’ for the whole world. The other sixty odd States would have to join in or accommodate themselves to the over-ruling decisions of these major Powers.
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Things that would have made fame of a less clever man seemed tricks in his hands. It is a mistake to do things too easily.
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But I was too restless to watch long; I'm too Occidental for a long vigil. I could work at a problem for years, but to wait inactive for twenty-four hours - that's another matter.
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The greatest task of democracy, its ritual and feast - is choice.
H. G. WellsRead
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