--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We shall not have succeeded in…" description: "\"We shall not have succeeded in demolishing everything unless we demolish the ruins as well. But the only way I can see of doing that is to use them to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b4/alfred-jarry-19850_building_we-shall-not-have-succeeded-in-demolishi_1823922.jpg" --- # We shall not have succeeded in demolishing everything… ![“We shall not have succeeded in demolishing everything unless we demolish the ruins as well. But the only way I can see of doing that is to use them to put up a lot of fine, well-designed buildings.” quote by Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b4/alfred-jarry-19850_building_we-shall-not-have-succeeded-in-demolishi_1823922.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b4/alfred-jarry-19850_building_we-shall-not-have-succeeded-in-demolishi_1823922.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b4/alfred-jarry-19850_building_we-shall-not-have-succeeded-in-demolishi_1823922.jpg) > “We shall not have succeeded in demolishing everything unless we demolish the ruins as well. But the only way I can see of doing that is to use them to put up a lot of fine, well-designed buildings.” [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Rebuilding from ruins requires using past debris as foundation for new creation. **In simple terms:** Use remnants to build anew. Key Takeaway Transform old into new. Themes renewal destruction creation Mood hopeful strategic Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - post‑disaster recovery - urban redevelopment - personal reinvention - historical preservation Key Concepts urban planning philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How can you repurpose what remains? - What new structures can arise? A Different Perspective Resources may be scarce. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Building](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building/) [Demolish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demolish/) [Demolish Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demolish-ruins-2216446/) [Demolishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demolishing-637494/) [Demolishing Unless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demolishing-unless-2216447/) [Fine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) [Unless Demolish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unless-demolish-2216448/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [“By now the whole of downtown Morpork was alight, and the richer and worthier citizens of Ankh on the far bank were bravely responding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/by-now-the-whole-of-downtown-morpork-was-alight-and-the-richer-and/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Demolishing pretensions, especially worthy ones, is a hallmark of the baby boom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/demolishing-pretensions-especially-worthy-ones-is-a-hallmark-of-the/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [I believe demolishing Hussein's military power and liberating Iraq would be a cakewalk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-adelman/i-believe-demolishing-hussein-s-military-power-and-liberating-iraq-2/) [Kenneth Adelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-adelman/) > [Men say they love independence in a woman, but they don't waste a second demolishing it brick by brick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candice-bergen/men-say-they-love-independence-in-a-woman-but-they-don-t-waste-a/) [Candice Bergen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candice-bergen/) > [There is no one quite like Trump for forensically demolishing the opposition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-devine/there-is-no-one-quite-like-trump-for-forensically-demolishing-the/) [Miranda Devine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-devine/) > [You have put so much energy into building a prison for yourself. Now spend as much on demolishing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/you-have-put-so-much-energy-into-building-a-prison-for-yourself-now-2/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [“You have put so much energy into building a prison for yourself. Now spend as much on demolishing it. In fact, demolition is easy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nisargadatta-maharaj/you-have-put-so-much-energy-into-building-a-prison-for-yourself-now/) [Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [“that a pink flamingo yard ornament deserved demolishing by any available means. A comment left unsaid, of course. Thea’s face had paled to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorena-mccourtney/that-a-pink-flamingo-yard-ornament-deserved-demolishing-by-any/) [Lorena McCourtney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorena-mccourtney/) > [“There is nothing like the hand of the populace for building everything that is built by demolishing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-is-nothing-like-the-hand-of-the-populace-for-building/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [The catastrophist constructs theories, the uniformitarian demolishes them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-whewell/the-catastrophist-constructs-theories-the-uniformitarian-demolishes/) [William Whewell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-whewell/) > [“Apparently you’re only allowed to demolish Wolverhampton if you’re a property developer like Donald Trump. Crawling eldritch horrors don’t get planning permission unless they’re…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/apparently-you-re-only-allowed-to-demolish-wolverhampton-if-you-re-a/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [What did not demolish me simply polished me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/india-arie-2/what-did-not-demolish-me-simply-polished-me/) [India.Arie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/india-arie-2/) > [We had the city trying to demolish two of our exhibition spaces, which was at first pretty disturbing. But following the freak-out is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsha-kaechele/we-had-the-city-trying-to-demolish-two-of-our-exhibition-spaces-which/) [Kirsha Kaechele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsha-kaechele/) > [We study health, and we deliberate upon our meats and drink and air and exercises, and we hew and we polish every stone that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/we-study-health-and-we-deliberate-upon-our-meats-and-drink-and-air/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [The problem was Le Corbusier was a genius and an enormous artist, but he tried to resolve problems to which there is no solution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-krier/the-problem-was-le-corbusier-was-a-genius-and-an-enormous-artist-but/) [Leon Krier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-krier/) ## More by Alfred Jarry > [“The theater, bringing impersonal masks to life, is only for those who are virile enough to create new life: either as a conflict of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/the-theater-bringing-impersonal-masks-to-life-is-only-for-those-who/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [To be weird! That is my goal!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/to-be-weird-that-is-my-goal/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [Applause that comes thundering with such force you might think the audience merely suffers the music as an excuse for its ovations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/applause-that-comes-thundering-with-such-force-you-might-think-the/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [Anti-alcoholics are unfortunates in the grip of water, that terrible poison, so corrosive that out of all substances it has been chosen for washing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/anti-alcoholics-are-unfortunates-in-the-grip-of-water-that-terrible/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [God is the shortest distance from zero to infinity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/god-is-the-shortest-distance-from-zero-to-infinity/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [You're looking exceptionally ugly tonight, Madam, is it because we have company?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/you-re-looking-exceptionally-ugly-tonight-madam-is-it-because-we-have/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [“If we want to lower ourselves to the level of the public there are two things we can do for them--and which are done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/if-we-want-to-lower-ourselves-to-the-level-of-the-public-there-are/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [Dieu est le point tangent de ze ro et de l'infini. God is the tangential point of zero and the infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/dieu-est-le-point-tangent-de-ze-ro-et-de-l-infini-god-is-the/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [It is conventional to call 'monster' any blending of dissonant elements. I call 'monster' every original inexhaustible beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/it-is-conventional-to-call-monster-any-blending-of-dissonant-elements/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [“Writing a part with the talents of a particular actor in mind is the method most likely to result in ephemeral plays: for, once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/writing-a-part-with-the-talents-of-a-particular-actor-in-mind-is-the/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [“The virtue of dress rehearsals is that they are a free show for a select group of artists and friends of the author, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/the-virtue-of-dress-rehearsals-is-that-they-are-a-free-show-for-a/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [“One can show one's contempt for the cruelty and stupidity of the world by making of one's life a poem of incoherence and absurdity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/one-can-show-one-s-contempt-for-the-cruelty-and-stupidity-of-the/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [It is because the public are a mass inert, obtuse, and passive that they need to be shaken up from time to time so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/it-is-because-the-public-are-a-mass-inert-obtuse-and-passive-that/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [The virtue of dress rehearsals is that they are a free show for a select group of artists and friends of the author, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/the-virtue-of-dress-rehearsals-is-that-they-are-a-free-show-for-a-2/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [The applause of silence. is the only kind that counts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/the-applause-of-silence-is-the-only-kind-that-counts/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) [Explore all 31 Alfred Jarry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) ## More Building quotes > [You, of Canada, are building a magnificent record of achievement. My country rejoices in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/you-of-canada-are-building-a-magnificent-record-of-achievement-my/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [One of the things the United States does well is building coalitions. What the U.S. knows is that if you don't have a coalition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/one-of-the-things-the-united-states-does-well-is-building-coalitions/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [Surely, if Mother Nature had been consulted, she would never have consented to building a city in New Orleans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-zuckerman/surely-if-mother-nature-had-been-consulted-she-would-never-have/) [Mortimer Zuckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-zuckerman/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I've done so many other projects where you're in a room with a reader and you're acting your lines out: 'We have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/i-ve-done-so-many-other-projects-where-you-re-in-a-room-with-a-reader/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [Absolutely, you can improve and become better at toughness. It's a talent, but it can be acquired, too. I think of it like building…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harbaugh/absolutely-you-can-improve-and-become-better-at-toughness-it-s-a/) [Jim Harbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harbaugh/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [I'd like to play Ian Paisley, actually. I'd need building up, though he's very frail now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liam-neeson/i-d-like-to-play-ian-paisley-actually-i-d-need-building-up-though-he/) [Liam Neeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liam-neeson/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some architects have a preconceived notion of what a building should be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-w-fentress/some-architects-have-a-preconceived-notion-of-what-a-building-should/) [Curtis W. Fentress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-w-fentress/) > [As for the forces, electromagnetism and gravity we experience in everyday life. But the weak and strong forces are beyond our ordinary experience. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-witten/as-for-the-forces-electromagnetism-and-gravity-we-experience-in/) [Edward Witten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-witten/) > [I'm 30. I'm about to hit my prime now. I need to act and keep building.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dillian-whyte/i-m-30-i-m-about-to-hit-my-prime-now-i-need-to-act-and-keep-building/) [Dillian Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dillian-whyte/) > [The essential functions of the mind consist in understanding and in inventing, in other words, in building up structures by structuring reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/the-essential-functions-of-the-mind-consist-in-understanding-and-in/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [Practically every time I speak up at a school conference, a political event, or my apartment building association's annual meeting, I'm met with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/practically-every-time-i-speak-up-at-a-school-conference-a-political/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) [Browse all 5,974 Building quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We shall not have succeeded in demolishing everything unless we demolish the ruins as well. 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