Our biggest threat is not an asteroid about to crash into us, something we can do nothing about. Instead, all the major threats facing us today are problems entirely of our own making. And since we made the problems, we can also solve the problems.

Source: "Why Do Societies Collapse?" TED2003. Feb. 2003. Conference Presentation. Additional Information: This quote by civilization scholar Jared Diamond is from his 2003 TED Talk about why societies thrive or fail. According to Diamond, modern society has many of the same characteristics as societies that have collapsed in the past. However, on a more optimistic note, Diamond says in this quote that because we, as a society, have created the problems we currently face (such as environmental and political problems), we hold the keys needed to solve these problems, and thus, our collapse is not inevitable. Watch the full TED Talk here: Jared Diamond - Why Do Societies Collapse?

“Why Do Societies Collapse?” TED2003. Feb. 2003. Conference Presentation.