I have never thought of myself as a good writer. Anyone who wants reassurance of that should read one of my first drafts. But I'm one of the world's great rewriters.
James A. MichenerRead
Rampaging horsemen can conquer; only the city can civilize.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Civilization is achieved through social order rather than brute force.
This quote highlights the distinction between raw power and the essence of civilization. While forceful individuals or groups may achieve victories and dominance, it is the structure, values, and order of society that ultimately defines what it means to be civilized. Civilization is a collective achievement that relies on cooperation, laws, and shared beliefs rather than mere conquest.
Themes
CivilizationConquestSocietyOrderPower
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about the role of government and law in society, this quote can emphasize the importance of civilization over mere power.
More from James A. Michener
All quotes βWhenever I start a book, I swear it's going to be a short one. But then it's, 'Who was his grandfather? And how did he get there in the first place? And what kind of animals is he chasing?'
James A. MichenerRead
I think the crucial thing in the writing career is to find what you want to do and how you fit in. What somebody else does is of no concern whatever except as an interesting variation.
James A. MichenerRead
If a man happens to find himself, he has a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life.
James A. MichenerRead
I was brought up in the great tradition of the late nineteenth century: that a writer never complains, never explains and never disdains.
James A. MichenerRead
The permanent temptation of life is to confuse dreams with reality. The permanent defeat of life comes when dreams are surrendered to reality.
James A. MichenerRead
Similar quotes
Human beings must be known to be loved; but Divine beings must be loved to be known.
Blaise PascalRead
Every new development for the last three centuries has brought men closer to a state of affairs in which absolutely nothing would be recognized in the whole world as possessing a claim to obedience except the authority of the State. The majority of people in Europe obey nothing else.
Simone WeilRead
I understood . . . that those who desired salvation should act like the trustee who, though having control over great possessions, regards not an iota of them as his own.
Mahatma GandhiRead
The stark and inescapable fact is that today we cannot defend our society by war since total war is total destruction, and if war is used as an instrument of policy, eventually we will have total war.
Lester B. PearsonRead
Humans are producers of their life circumstance not just products of them.
Albert BanduraRead
Stories are compasses and architecture, we navigate by them, we build our sanctuaries and our prisons out of them, and to be without a story is to be lost in the vastness of a world that spreads in all directions like arctic tundra or sea ice.
Rebecca SolnitRead