QuoteProject
Every civilization sees itself as the center of the world and writes its history as the central drama of human history.
Samuel P. Huntington
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Civilizations perceive their own narratives as the most significant in the grand scheme of human history.

This quote by Samuel P. Huntington highlights the tendency of civilizations to view themselves as the focal point of history. Each culture constructs its own narrative, often elevating its experiences and achievements as central to understanding the human experience, which can lead to a biased perspective on the complexities of global history.

Themes

CivilizationHistoryPerspectiveNarrativeHuman Experience

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech discussing cultural heritage, one might say, 'As Samuel P. Huntington noted, every civilization views itself as central to history.'

More from Samuel P. Huntington

Partial truths or half-truths are often more insidious than total falsehoods.
Samuel P. HuntingtonRead
Power remains strong when it remains in the dark; exposed to the sunlight it begins to evaporate.
Samuel P. HuntingtonRead

Similar quotes

The vulgar crowd always is taken by appearances, and the world consists chiefly of the vulgar.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
There are a lot of very brilliant people who believe that the nation-state is fast becoming a relic of the past.
William J. ClintonRead
A society based on the freedom to choose is better than a society based on the principles of socialism, communism and coercion.
Milton FriedmanRead
The death of the spirit is the price of progress.
Eric VoegelinRead
That life is worth living is the most necessary of assumptions, and were it not assumed, the most impossible of conclusions.
George SantayanaRead
We who follow the Honorable Elijah Muhammad feel that when you try and pass integration laws here in America, forcing white people to pretend that they are accepting black people, what you are doing is making white people act in a hypocritical way.
Malcolm XRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Samuel P. Huntington | QuoteProject