"The Choice," The Fate of the Earth (1982)
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Either we will sink into a final coma and end it all or, as I trust and believe, we will awaken to the truth of our peril, a truth as great as life itself, and, like a person who has swallowed a lethal poison but shakes off his stupor at the last moment and vomits the poison up, we will break through the layers of our denials, put aside our fainthearted excuses, and rise up to cleanse the earth of nuclear weapons.
— Jonathan Schell
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Either we will sink into a final coma and end it all or, as I trust and believe, we will awaken to the truth of our peril, a truth as great as life itself, and, like a person who has swallowed a lethal poison but shakes off his stupor at the last moment and vomits the poison up, we will break through the layers of our denials, put aside our fainthearted excuses, and rise up to cleanse the earth of nuclear weapons." in the context of ""The Choice," The Fate of the Earth (1982)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Jonathan Schell" (Quotes)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Jonathan Schell
Jonathan Edward Schell (August 21, 1943 – March 25, 2014) was an author and visiting fellow at Yale University, whose work primarily deals with campaigning against nuclear weapons.
About Jonathan Schell
Jonathan Edward Schell (August 21, 1943 – March 25, 2014) was an author and visiting fellow at Yale University, whose work primarily deals with campaigning against nuclear weapons.
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