--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Understanding- -like civilization…" description: "\"Understanding- -like civilization, happiness, music, science and a host of other great endeavors--is not a state of being, but a manner of traveling. T..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/alan-kay-7358_civilization_understanding-like-civilization-happines_1523865.jpg" --- # Understanding- -like civilization, happiness, music… ![“Understanding- -like civilization, happiness, music, science and a host of other great endeavors--is not a state of being, but a manner of traveling. This great road has no final destination. The journey itself is the reward.” quote by Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/alan-kay-7358_civilization_understanding-like-civilization-happines_1523865.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/alan-kay-7358_civilization_understanding-like-civilization-happines_1523865.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/alan-kay-7358_civilization_understanding-like-civilization-happines_1523865.jpg) > “Understanding- -like civilization, happiness, music, science and a host of other great endeavors--is not a state of being, but a manner of traveling. This great road has no final destination. The journey itself is the reward.” [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life’s pursuits—art, science, happiness—are journeys without a final endpoint; the process itself provides fulfillment, not a distant goal. **In simple terms:** The journey, not the destination, is rewarding. Key Takeaway Embrace continual learning and exploration. Themes philosophy creativity science happiness journey Mood thoughtful inspirational optimistic Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - education - research - artistic creation - personal development - career planning Key Concepts process orientation intrinsic motivation lifelong learning Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance process with achieving concrete results? - What practices keep you motivated without a fixed endpoint? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on process may neglect necessary outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Civilization Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization-happiness-5638577/) [Destination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destination/) [Endeavor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endeavor/) [Final destination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/final-destination/) [Finals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finals/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Host](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/host/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Manner Traveling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manner-traveling-1519839/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Rewards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rewards/) [Road](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/road/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-is-not-a-station-you-arrive-at-but-a-manner-of-traveling/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-lee-runbeck/happiness-is-not-a-state-to-arrive-at-but-a-manner-of-traveling/) [Margaret Lee Runbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-lee-runbeck/) > [Happieness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happieness-is-not-a-state-to-arrive-at-but-a-manner-of-traveling/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There is no final destination to our journey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raphael-zernoff/there-is-no-final-destination-to-our-journey/) [Raphael Zernoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raphael-zernoff/) > [Happiness is a way of travelling and not a final destination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-holden/happiness-is-a-way-of-travelling-and-not-a-final-destination/) [Robert Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-holden/) > [Success is not arriving at the summit of a mountain as a final destination. It is a continuing upward spiral of progress. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilferd-peterson/success-is-not-arriving-at-the-summit-of-a-mountain-as-a-final/) [Wilferd Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilferd-peterson/) > [I don't know whether you can look at your past and find, woven like the hidden symbols on a treasure map, the path that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/i-don-t-know-whether-you-can-look-at-your-past-and-find-woven-like/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [“Human existence is girt round with mystery: the narrow region of our experience is a small island in the midst of a boundless sea.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/human-existence-is-girt-round-with-mystery-the-narrow-region-of-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We've concocted a system where local trips take an auto. That's our biggest tragedy. Streetcars, such as those used in Portland's Pearl District, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-calthorpe/we-ve-concocted-a-system-where-local-trips-take-an-auto-that-s-our/) [Peter Calthorpe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-calthorpe/) > [His potential is greater and higher than Everton as a final destination. If Romelu was to play at Everton until the end of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-koeman/his-potential-is-greater-and-higher-than-everton-as-a-final/) [Ronald Koeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-koeman/) > [However, you do need rules. Driving on the left (or the right or, in parts of Europe, on the left and the right as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/however-you-do-need-rules-driving-on-the-left-or-the-right-or-in/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [We've been working on the visual effects for a year, so we're trying to raise the bar. Stuff will absolutely come out at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-w-s-anderson/we-ve-been-working-on-the-visual-effects-for-a-year-so-we-re-trying/) [Paul W. S. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-w-s-anderson/) > [The worst passion we mortals cherish is the desire to possess. Even when we know that our final destination is a hole not more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/the-worst-passion-we-mortals-cherish-is-the-desire-to-possess-even/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [You can have information and ease of use and have artistic integrity at the same time. The art of being a good Web designer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-davidson/you-can-have-information-and-ease-of-use-and-have-artistic-integrity/) [Mike Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-davidson/) > [“The final destination is death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-final-destination-is-death/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) ## More by Alan Kay > [In our society we have hard nerds and soft nerds. The hard nerds are the ones who used to have the slide rules at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/in-our-society-we-have-hard-nerds-and-soft-nerds-the-hard-nerds-are/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [As far as Apple goes, it was a different company every few years from the time I joined in 1984.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/as-far-as-apple-goes-it-was-a-different-company-every-few-years-from/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [When I first prepared this particular talk... I realized that my usual approach is usually critical. That is, a lot of the things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/when-i-first-prepared-this-particular-talk-i-realized-that-my-usual/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Quite a few people have to believe something is normal before it becomes normal - a sort of 'voting' situation. But once the threshold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/quite-a-few-people-have-to-believe-something-is-normal-before-it/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Every technology really needs to be shipped with a special manual - not how to use it but why, when and for what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/every-technology-really-needs-to-be-shipped-with-a-special-manual-not/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Java and C++ make you think that the new ideas are like the old ones. Java is the most distressing thing to hit computing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/java-and-c-make-you-think-that-the-new-ideas-are-like-the-old-ones/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [It's hard to change information in books, but if we have everything online, then a somewhat untrustworthy group of people controlling the thing -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/it-s-hard-to-change-information-in-books-but-if-we-have-everything/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Computer programmers do it byte by byte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/computer-programmers-do-it-byte-by-byte/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Lisp isn't a language, it's a building material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/lisp-isn-t-a-language-it-s-a-building-material/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [The tree of research must be fed from time to time with the blood of bean-counters, for it is its natural manure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/the-tree-of-research-must-be-fed-from-time-to-time-with-the-blood-of/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/people-who-are-really-serious-about-software-should-make-their-own/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [I think the trick with knowledge is to “acquire it, and forget all except the perfume” - because it is noisy and sometimes drowns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/i-think-the-trick-with-knowledge-is-to-acquire-it-and-forget-all/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Possibly the only real object-oriented system in working order. (About Internet)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/possibly-the-only-real-object-oriented-system-in-working-order-about/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [“A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/a-change-in-perspective-is-worth-80-iq-points/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Humans are communications junkies. We just can't get enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/humans-are-communications-junkies-we-just-can-t-get-enough/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) [Explore all 91 Alan Kay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) [Browse all 4,084 Civilization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Understanding- -like civilization, happiness, music, science and a host of other great endeavors--is not a state of being, but a manner of traveling. This great road has no final destination. The journey itself is the reward.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Kay" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/understanding-like-civilization-happiness-music-science-and-a-host-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civilization" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/understanding-like-civilization-happiness-music-science-and-a-host-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/alan-kay-7358_civilization_understanding-like-civilization-happines_1523865.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/alan-kay-7358_civilization_understanding-like-civilization-happines_1523865.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba0/alan-kay-7358_civilization_understanding-like-civilization-happines_1523865.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Understanding- -like civilization, happiness, music, science and a host of other great endeavors--is not a…” — Alan Kay", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alan Kay", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Understanding- -like civilization, happiness, music, science...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/understanding-like-civilization-happiness-music-science-and-a-host-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/understanding-like-civilization-happiness-music-science-and-a-host-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```