---
title: "8 Modern Nation Quotes by 8 authors"
description: "Browse 8 Modern Nation quotes by 8 authors. Discover the best Modern Nation sayings and thoughts."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/lewis-thomas-2299_alive_the-drive-to-be-useful-is-encoded-in-our_140276.png"
---

> [The drive to be useful is encoded in our genes. But when we gather in very large numbers, as in the modern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-drive-to-be-useful-is-encoded-in-our-genes-but-when-we-gather-in/)

[Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/lewis-thomas-2299_alive_the-drive-to-be-useful-is-encoded-in-our_140276.png)

> [“Well, in my view what would ultimately be necessary would be a breakdown of the nation-state system―because I think that's not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/well-in-my-view-what-would-ultimately-be-necessary-would-be-a/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87e/noam-chomsky-42_history_well-in-my-view-what-would-ultimately-be_886044.jpg)

> [“By 1938, Scotland had for nearly 200 years lived within a classic peripheral identity assigned to it by the artists and ideologues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-mcarthur/by-1938-scotland-had-for-nearly-200-years-lived-within-a-classic/)

[Colin McArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-mcarthur/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e97/colin-mcarthur-67480_1938_by-1938-scotland-had-for-nearly-200-year_1387250.jpg)

> [I incline to an aristocratic republic. This would satisfy the ambitious spirit among our people. We shall learn from the historic mistakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-herzl/i-incline-to-an-aristocratic-republic-this-would-satisfy-the/)

[Theodor Herzl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-herzl/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6f/theodor-herzl-12888_ambitious_i-incline-to-an-aristocratic-republic-th_1642668.jpg)

> [No modern nation has ever constructed a foreign policy that was acceptable to its intellectuals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/no-modern-nation-has-ever-constructed-a-foreign-policy-that-was/)

[Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/irving-kristol-14064_foreign-policy_no-modern-nation-has-ever-constructed-a_1879343.jpg)

> [Libya as a country is a relatively new concept. The period of Libya as a modern nation really starts after World War…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/libya-as-a-country-is-a-relatively-new-concept-the-period-of-libya-as/)

[Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f9/elliott-abrams-1577_after_libya-as-a-country-is-a-relatively-new-c_2307343.jpg)

> [Propelled by freedom of faith, gender equality and economic justice for all, India will become a modern nation. Minor blemishes cannot cloak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pranab-mukherjee/propelled-by-freedom-of-faith-gender-equality-and-economic-justice/)

[Pranab Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pranab-mukherjee/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/897/pranab-mukherjee-21603_becoming_propelled-by-freedom-of-faith-gender-equ_2795952.jpg)

> [“Spain was recently unified, one of the new modern nation-states, like France , England , and Portugal . Its population, mostly poor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/spain-was-recently-unified-one-of-the-new-modern-nation-states-like/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ed/anonymous-1_spain_spain-was-recently-unified-one-of-the-ne_2981972.jpg)

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                        "text": "The drive to be useful is encoded in our genes. But when we gather in very large numbers, as in the modern nation-state, we seem capable of levels of folly and self-destruction to be found nowhere else in all of nature. But if we keep at it and keep alive, we are in for one surprise after another. We can build structures for human society never seen before, thoughts never heard before, music never heard before.",
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                        "text": "“Well, in my view what would ultimately be necessary would be a breakdown of the nation-state system―because I think that's not a viable system. It's not necessarily the natural form of human organization; in fact, it's a European invention pretty much. The modern nation-state system basically developed in Europe since the medieval period, and it was extremely difficult for it to develop: Europe has a very bloody history, an extremely savage and bloody history, with constant massive wars and so on, and that was all part of an effort to establish the nation-state system. It has virtually no relation to the way people live, or to their associations, or anything else particularly, so it had to be established by force. And it was established by centuries of bloody warfare. That warfare ended in 1945―and the only reason it ended is because the next war was going to destroy everything. So it ended in 1945―we hope; if it didn't, it will destroy everything.”",
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