--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The humanities are like the great old…" description: "\"The humanities are like the great old Paris Flea Market where, amidst masses of junk, people with a good eye found cast away treasures...They are like ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/allan-bloom-4105_camps_the-humanities-are-like-the-great-old-pa_452729.png" --- # The humanities are like the great old Paris Flea Market… ![“The humanities are like the great old Paris Flea Market where, amidst masses of junk, people with a good eye found cast away treasures...They are like a refugee camp where all the geniuses driven out of their jobs and countries by unfriendly regimes are idling.” quote by Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/allan-bloom-4105_camps_the-humanities-are-like-the-great-old-pa_452729.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/allan-bloom-4105_camps_the-humanities-are-like-the-great-old-pa_452729.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/allan-bloom-4105_camps_the-humanities-are-like-the-great-old-pa_452729.png) > “The humanities are like the great old Paris Flea Market where, amidst masses of junk, people with a good eye found cast away treasures...They are like a refugee camp where all the geniuses driven out of their jobs and countries by unfriendly regimes are idling.” [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humanities uncover hidden value among cultural noise, offering refuge for displaced intellects and preserving critical thought. **In simple terms:** Humanities find treasure in cultural clutter. Key Takeaway Support and study humanities to preserve insight. Themes education culture intellectual refuge Mood thoughtful concerned Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - university curricula - public discourse - intellectual migration - cultural preservation Key Concepts critical theory humanistic inquiry Questions to Reflect On - How can humanities demonstrate tangible benefits? - What role should they play in a tech‑driven world? A Different Perspective Some argue humanities lack practical utility in modern economies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cast away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cast-away/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Driven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driven/) [Flea markets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flea-markets/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Humanities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanities/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Paris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paris/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Refugee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refugee/) [Refugee camps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refugee-camps/) [Treasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treasure/) ## Related quotes > [There are certainly times in history where power associates itself closely with fields that we would call the humanities, like rulers surrounding themselves with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/there-are-certainly-times-in-history-where-power-associates-itself/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Every heart to Love will come, but like a refugee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/every-heart-to-love-will-come-but-like-a-refugee/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [I clearly remember the pain of partition; the whole of Delhi was seeing the struggle of refugees. We stayed near Roshanara Bagh, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gulzar/i-clearly-remember-the-pain-of-partition-the-whole-of-delhi-was/) [Gulzar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gulzar/) > [You believe what you want to believe. You see, you don't have to live like a refugee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-petty/you-believe-what-you-want-to-believe-you-see-you-don-t-have-to-live/) [Tom Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-petty/) > [I've never been in a place where I've walked in the street and actually feel home, where I don't feel like a refugee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luol-deng/i-ve-never-been-in-a-place-where-i-ve-walked-in-the-street-and/) [Luol Deng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luol-deng/) > [People have been born in refugee camps and they are getting tired of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-bardem/people-have-been-born-in-refugee-camps-and-they-are-getting-tired-of/) [Javier Bardem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-bardem/) > [While I regard the Nakba as an ongoing crime that needs to be prosecuted and reversed...Shavit defends its necessity and lectures Palestinians trapped in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-blumenthal/while-i-regard-the-nakba-as-an-ongoing-crime-that-needs-to-be/) [Max Blumenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-blumenthal/) > [After World War II there were many Jews who remained in refugee camps...President Harry F. Truman called for the Harrison Commission to investigate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/after-world-war-ii-there-were-many-jews-who-remained-in-refugee-camps/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“When I think back on all the refugee camps I visited, all over the world, the people always asked for the same thing: books.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/when-i-think-back-on-all-the-refugee-camps-i-visited-all-over-the/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [The lack of livelihood opportunities in refugee camps pushes many people to embark on dangerous journeys in the quest for a better life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arancha-gonzalez/the-lack-of-livelihood-opportunities-in-refugee-camps-pushes-many/) [Arancha Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arancha-gonzalez/) > [What cause have we to complain about their fierce hatred to us? For eight years now, they sit in their refugee camps in Gaza,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moshe-dayan/what-cause-have-we-to-complain-about-their-fierce-hatred-to-us-for/) [Moshe Dayan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moshe-dayan/) > [We often discuss housing refugees, but not how you help return refugees back to their home countries. As a result, in a post-disaster or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-sinclair/we-often-discuss-housing-refugees-but-not-how-you-help-return/) [Cameron Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-sinclair/) > [In refugee camps around the world, I met people who were gone. They were still walking around but had lost so much that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-ellis/in-refugee-camps-around-the-world-i-met-people-who-were-gone-they/) [Deborah Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-ellis/) > [I've seen mothers and children really being vulnerable in the refugee camps; it's supposed to be temporary, but they end up having children who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alek-wek/i-ve-seen-mothers-and-children-really-being-vulnerable-in-the-refugee/) [Alek Wek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alek-wek/) > [It's often frustrating when you're a war reporter and you're covering these places that far away. You're frustrated by making stories that people can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-rowley/it-s-often-frustrating-when-you-re-a-war-reporter-and-you-re-covering/) [Rick Rowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-rowley/) ## More by Allan Bloom > [There is one thing a professor can be absolutely certain of: almost every student entering the university believes, or says he believes, that truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/there-is-one-thing-a-professor-can-be-absolutely-certain-of-almost/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Authentic values are those by which a life can be lived, which can form a people that produces great deeds and thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/authentic-values-are-those-by-which-a-life-can-be-lived-which-can/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Shakespeare's naturalness is attested to by the strange fact that he is the only classical author who remains popular. The critical termites are massed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/shakespeare-s-naturalness-is-attested-to-by-the-strange-fact-that-he/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [The utilitarian behaves sensibly in all that is required for preservation but never takes account of the fact that he must die...His whole life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-utilitarian-behaves-sensibly-in-all-that-is-required-for/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [The longing for Europe has been all but extinguished in the young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-longing-for-europe-has-been-all-but-extinguished-in-the-young/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Students now arrive at the university ignorant and cynical about our political heritage, lacking the wherewithal to be either inspired by it or seriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/students-now-arrive-at-the-university-ignorant-and-cynical-about-our/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Human nature must not be altered in order to have a problem-free world. Man is not just a problem-solving being, as behaviorists would wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/human-nature-must-not-be-altered-in-order-to-have-a-problem-free/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Never did I think that the university was properly ministerial to the society around it. Rather I thought and think that society is ministerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/never-did-i-think-that-the-university-was-properly-ministerial-to-the/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Reason cannot establish values, and its belief that it can is the stupidiest and most pernicious illusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/reason-cannot-establish-values-and-its-belief-that-it-can-is-the/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Fathers and mothers have lost the idea that the highest aspiration they might have for their children is for them to be wise... specialized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/fathers-and-mothers-have-lost-the-idea-that-the-highest-aspiration/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [As Western nations became more prosperous, leisure, which had been put off for several centuries in favor of the pursuit of property, the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/as-western-nations-became-more-prosperous-leisure-which-had-been-put/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Historicism and cultural relativism actually are a means to avoid testing our own prejudices and asking, for example, whether men are really equal or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/historicism-and-cultural-relativism-actually-are-a-means-to-avoid/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [“Man requires a healing education which returns him to himself. Rousseau's paradoxes- his attack on the arts and the sciences and his practice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/man-requires-a-healing-education-which-returns-him-to-himself/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [The failure to read good books both enfeebles the vision and strengthens our most fatal tendency - the belief that the here and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-failure-to-read-good-books-both-enfeebles-the-vision-and/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Life, liberty, and the pursuit of property were just what Aristotle did not talk about. They are the conditions of happiness; but the essence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of-property-were-just-what-aristotle-did/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) [Explore all 116 Allan Bloom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) ## More Camps quotes > [Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cameron/humanitarian-goods-and-people-must-flow-in-both-directions-gaza/) [David Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cameron/) > [The surprise of an army is now next to an impossibility. ... Prearranged surprises are rare and difficult because in order to plan one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-henri-jomini/the-surprise-of-an-army-is-now-next-to-an-impossibility-prearranged/) [Antoine-Henri Jomini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-henri-jomini/) > [In high school, I was performing "forensics." You take a section of a play and portray all the characters. I even went to camp…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-silverman/in-high-school-i-was-performing-forensics-you-take-a-section-of-a/) [Allison Silverman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-silverman/) > [As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-far-as-i-know-the-question-of-whether-and-how-it-could-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's often frustrating when you're a war reporter and you're covering these places that far away. You're frustrated by making stories that people can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-rowley/it-s-often-frustrating-when-you-re-a-war-reporter-and-you-re-covering/) [Rick Rowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-rowley/) > [A man in a cave or in a camp, a nomad, will die with no more estate than the wolf or the horse leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-in-a-cave-or-in-a-camp-a-nomad-will-die-with-no-more-estate/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The troops were occasionally occupied in pursuing scattered bands going north or south, and on three occasions the large camp of Sitting Bull ventured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-a-miles/the-troops-were-occasionally-occupied-in-pursuing-scattered-bands/) [Nelson A. Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-a-miles/) > [I try to leave my work at the door when I leave the set. It's almost like summer camp. You go in hard, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dano/i-try-to-leave-my-work-at-the-door-when-i-leave-the-set-it-s-almost/) [Paul Dano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dano/) > [When I was seventeen, I worked as a counsellor at a co-ed sleep-away camp for eight weeks. I loved it but it could be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-coben/when-i-was-seventeen-i-worked-as-a-counsellor-at-a-co-ed-sleep-away/) [Harlan Coben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-coben/) > [When we criticize in Iran the actions of the government, the fundamentalists say that we and the Bush Administration are in the same camp.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirin-ebadi/when-we-criticize-in-iran-the-actions-of-the-government-the/) [Shirin Ebadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirin-ebadi/) > [If writing with a goal - whether it be evangelistic, apologetic, or didactic - implies propaganda, then all recorded history is propaganda. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-copan/if-writing-with-a-goal-whether-it-be-evangelistic-apologetic-or/) [Paul Copan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-copan/) > [ \[10 Things I Hate About You\] was the most fun I ever had making a movie. 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I'm quite camp in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-eclair/i-admire-the-elsie-tanners-and-barbara-windsors-of-the-world-people/) [Jenny Eclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-eclair/) > [Wouldn't that be funny, if the oil rebels were playing U2 in their jungle camps, and the government soldiers were playing U2 in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/wouldn-t-that-be-funny-if-the-oil-rebels-were-playing-u2-in-their/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) Browse all 918 Camps quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The humanities are like the great old Paris Flea Market where, amidst masses of junk, people with a good eye found cast away treasures...They are like a refugee camp where all the geniuses driven out of their jobs and countries by unfriendly regimes are idling.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Allan Bloom" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-humanities-are-like-the-great-old-paris-flea-market-where-amidst/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Camps" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-humanities-are-like-the-great-old-paris-flea-market-where-amidst/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/allan-bloom-4105_camps_the-humanities-are-like-the-great-old-pa_452729.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/allan-bloom-4105_camps_the-humanities-are-like-the-great-old-pa_452729.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/allan-bloom-4105_camps_the-humanities-are-like-the-great-old-pa_452729.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The humanities are like the great old Paris Flea Market where, amidst masses of junk, people with a good eye…” — Allan Bloom", "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": "Allan Bloom", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The humanities are like the great...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-humanities-are-like-the-great-old-paris-flea-market-where-amidst/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-humanities-are-like-the-great-old-paris-flea-market-where-amidst/#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 } } ] } ```