only

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mdekamen

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Joined
Sep 17, 2013
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French
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Belgium
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Belgium
Hello,

Below is a sentence from the famous book "War of the Worlds".
I don't understand the meaning of "only" in this sentence, and what it refers to:

No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea of life upon them as impossible or improbable.

What does it mean to you?
Thank you for your help!
 
If they did actually think of the worlds in space, then they would do so to dismiss the idea of life on them.
 
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