Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
America skipped a middle stage of civilization between barbarism and decadence.
In plain terms
The U.S. went straight from rough beginnings to decline.
What can you take from it?
Develop cultures systematically over time.

Where it applies

  • historical analysis
  • cultural critique
  • national identity

Putting it to work

  • study cultural history
  • critique societal progress

Questions to consider

  • What defines a civilization?
  • Is America declining?

Another view

America's history of democracy and innovation is significant.

More from George Bernard Shaw

  1. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.[1]

    Permalink to quote #200
  2. Animals are my friends ... and I don't eat my friends.

    Permalink to quote #202
  3. Customs will reconcile people to any atrocity.

    Permalink to quote #199

Related quotes

  1. One might enumerate the items of high civilization, as it exists in other countries, which are absent from the texture of American life, until it should become…

    Henry JamesHenry James quote #8
  2. On jazz: 'Jazz is known all over the world as an American musical art form and that's it. No America, no jazz. I've seen people try to connect it to other coun…

    Art BlakeyArt Blakey quote #1
  3. The settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe. America came into existence when the European was already so distant from the ancient …

    Lewis MumfordLewis Mumford quote #1