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
Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Human progress relies on education to prevent disasters.
H. G. Wells emphasizes the idea that as civilization advances, the challenges and dangers it faces grow more complex. The quote suggests that education is the key tool in navigating these complexities and avoiding potential catastrophes. Without a strong focus on education, society risks facing dire consequences.
Themes
EducationCatastropheHistoryProgressCivilization
In practice
Example use cases
During a graduation speech to motivate students.
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.
H. G. WellsRead
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.
H. G. WellsRead
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.
H. G. WellsRead
The greatest task of democracy, its ritual and feast - is choice.
H. G. WellsRead
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