--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As long as there have been men on earth…" description: "\"“As long as there have been men on earth, reflected the Count, there have been men in exile. From primitive tribes to the most advanced societies, some..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/amor-towles-1249_exile_as-long-as-there-have-been-men-on-earth_1987645.png" --- # As long as there have been men on earth, reflected the… ![“As long as there have been men on earth, reflected the Count, there have been men in exile. From primitive tribes to the most advanced societies, someone has occasionally been told by his fellow men to pack his bags, cross the border, and never set foot on his native soil again. But perhaps this…” quote by Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/amor-towles-1249_exile_as-long-as-there-have-been-men-on-earth_1987645.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/amor-towles-1249_exile_as-long-as-there-have-been-men-on-earth_1987645.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/amor-towles-1249_exile_as-long-as-there-have-been-men-on-earth_1987645.png) > ““As long as there have been men on earth, reflected the Count, there have been men in exile. From primitive tribes to the most advanced societies, someone has occasionally been told by his fellow men to pack his bags, cross the border, and never set foot on his native soil again. But perhaps this was to be expected. After all, exile was the punishment that God meted out to Adam in the very first chapter of the human comedy; and that He meted out to Cain a few pages later. Yes, exile was as old as mankind. But the Russians were the first people to master the notion of sending a man into exile at home.”” [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Exile is a timeless punishment, from biblical times to modern Russia, reflecting societal rejection. **In simple terms:** Exile has always been used to punish and remove people. Key Takeaway Recognize the human cost of exile. Themes history justice displacement Mood reflective somber Type historical philosophical When to use this quote - political dissidents - refugees - historical analysis Key Concepts social ostracism political punishment biblical narratives Questions to Reflect On - How does exile shape identity? - What alternatives exist to exile? A Different Perspective Modern legal systems may view exile differently. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Exile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exile/) [Exile Punishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exile-punishment-3428567/) [Expected Exile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expected-exile-3428568/) [Man Exile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-exile-3037146/) [Men Exile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-exile-1823626/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [“I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/i-know-how-men-in-exile-feed-on-dreams-of-hope/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I know how men in exile feed on dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/i-know-how-men-in-exile-feed-on-dreams/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih, is an eloquent and restrained portrait of one man's exile. It is a rare narrative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/season-of-migration-to-the-north-by-tayeb-salih-is-an-eloquent-and/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [No man can be an exile if he remembers that all the world is one city.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-man-can-be-an-exile-if-he-remembers-that-all-the-world-is-one-city/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“This was a great magic. Festin had no more performed it than has any man who in exile or danger longs for the earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/this-was-a-great-magic-festin-had-no-more-performed-it-than-has-any/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Humor is widely used by Indians to deal with life. Indian gatherings are marked by laughter and jokes, many directed at the horrors of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-gunn-allen/humor-is-widely-used-by-indians-to-deal-with-life-indian-gatherings/) [Paula Gunn Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-gunn-allen/) > [I turned what was a wonderful case of self-reliance into a case of self-exile. Which is not uncommon, I think, in people who grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-newman/i-turned-what-was-a-wonderful-case-of-self-reliance-into-a-case-of/) [Leigh Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-newman/) > [“The growth of his power and fame was matched, in my imagination, by the degree of the punishment I would have liked to inflict…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nabokov-i-tyrants-destroyed-i/the-growth-of-his-power-and-fame-was-matched-in-my-imagination-by-the/) [Nabokov i Tyrants Destroyed i](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nabokov-i-tyrants-destroyed-i/) > [In our culture of constant access and nonstop media, nothing feels more like a curse from God than time in the wilderness. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-martin/in-our-culture-of-constant-access-and-nonstop-media-nothing-feels/) [Jonathan Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-martin/) > [Independence didn't have to be exile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-alvarez/independence-didn-t-have-to-be-exile/) [Julia Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-alvarez/) > [They came to know the incorrigible sorrow of all prisoners and exiles, which is to live in company with a memory that serves no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/they-came-to-know-the-incorrigible-sorrow-of-all-prisoners-and-exiles/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I had severed relations with the Romanian exiles who had become politically conservative and even extremely right wing; I was giving chess lessons to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/i-had-severed-relations-with-the-romanian-exiles-who-had-become/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [To live is to hurt others, and through others, to hurt oneself. Cruel earth! How can we manage not to touch anything? To find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/to-live-is-to-hurt-others-and-through-others-to-hurt-oneself-cruel/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [What can my enemies do to me? My paradise is in my heart, it is with me wherever I go. To imprison me is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-taymiyyah/what-can-my-enemies-do-to-me-my-paradise-is-in-my-heart-it-is-with-me/) [Ibn Taymiyyah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-taymiyyah/) > [Were you indeed not blinded by the Curse Of Self-exile, that still grows worse and worse, Yourselves would know that, though you see him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farid-al-din-attar/were-you-indeed-not-blinded-by-the-curse-of-self-exile-that-still/) [Farid al-Din Attar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farid-al-din-attar/) ## More by Amor Towles > [“To have even one year when you're presented with choices that can alter your circumstances, your character, your course- that's by the grace of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/to-have-even-one-year-when-you-re-presented-with-choices-that-can/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“Rather than sitting in orderly rows in a schoolhouse, wouldn't one be better served by working her way towards an actual horizon, so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/rather-than-sitting-in-orderly-rows-in-a-schoolhouse-wouldn-t-one-be/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [That's how quickly New York City comes about - like a weather wane - or the head of a cobra. Time tells which.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/that-s-how-quickly-new-york-city-comes-about-like-a-weather-wane-or/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“Mostly, he said, I've been thinking about what I'm not going to do. When I think of the last few years, I've been hounded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/mostly-he-said-i-ve-been-thinking-about-what-i-m-not-going-to-do-when/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“In the doleful court behind my building a patchwork of windows was all that separated me from a hundred muted lives being led without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/in-the-doleful-court-behind-my-building-a-patchwork-of-windows-was/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“That is how time passes when one is left waiting unaccountably. The hours become interminable. The minutes relentless. And the seconds? Why, not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/that-is-how-time-passes-when-one-is-left-waiting-unaccountably-the/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“Mishka would pine for Katerina the rest of his life! Never again would he walk Nevsky Prospekt, however they chose to rename it, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/mishka-would-pine-for-katerina-the-rest-of-his-life-never-again-would/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [Every year, I would spend weeks at a time in the hotels of distant cities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/every-year-i-would-spend-weeks-at-a-time-in-the-hotels-of-distant/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“For eventually, we come to hold our dearest possessions more closely than we hold our friends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/for-eventually-we-come-to-hold-our-dearest-possessions-more-closely/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“As we age, we are bound to find comfort from the notion that it takes generations for a way of life to fade. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/as-we-age-we-are-bound-to-find-comfort-from-the-notion-that-it-takes/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“For it is the role of the parent to express his concerns and then take three steps back. Not one, mind you, not two,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/for-it-is-the-role-of-the-parent-to-express-his-concerns-and-then/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“But I've come to realie that however blue my circumstance,s if after finishing a chapter of a Dickens novel I feel a miss-my-stop-on-the-train sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/but-i-ve-come-to-realie-that-however-blue-my-circumstance-s-if-after/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [I make extensive outlines before I write a book. I usually know what will happen. I know the characters, and I know what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/i-make-extensive-outlines-before-i-write-a-book-i-usually-know-what/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“Sometimes,” Nina clarified, “everybody tells you something because they are everybody. But why should one listen to everybody? Did everybody write the Odyssey? Did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/sometimes-nina-clarified-everybody-tells-you-something-because-they/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“For it is a fact that a man can be profoundly out of step with his times. A man may have been born in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/for-it-is-a-fact-that-a-man-can-be-profoundly-out-of-step-with-his/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) [Explore all 266 Amor Towles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) ## More Exile quotes > [Were you indeed not blinded by the Curse Of Self-exile, that still grows worse and worse, Yourselves would know that, though you see him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farid-al-din-attar/were-you-indeed-not-blinded-by-the-curse-of-self-exile-that-still/) [Farid al-Din Attar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farid-al-din-attar/) > [What can my enemies do to me? My paradise is in my heart, it is with me wherever I go. To imprison me is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-taymiyyah/what-can-my-enemies-do-to-me-my-paradise-is-in-my-heart-it-is-with-me/) [Ibn Taymiyyah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-taymiyyah/) > [To live is to hurt others, and through others, to hurt oneself. Cruel earth! How can we manage not to touch anything? To find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/to-live-is-to-hurt-others-and-through-others-to-hurt-oneself-cruel/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I had severed relations with the Romanian exiles who had become politically conservative and even extremely right wing; I was giving chess lessons to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/i-had-severed-relations-with-the-romanian-exiles-who-had-become/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [They came to know the incorrigible sorrow of all prisoners and exiles, which is to live in company with a memory that serves no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/they-came-to-know-the-incorrigible-sorrow-of-all-prisoners-and-exiles/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Independence didn't have to be exile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-alvarez/independence-didn-t-have-to-be-exile/) [Julia Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-alvarez/) > [In our culture of constant access and nonstop media, nothing feels more like a curse from God than time in the wilderness. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-martin/in-our-culture-of-constant-access-and-nonstop-media-nothing-feels/) [Jonathan Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-martin/) > [“The growth of his power and fame was matched, in my imagination, by the degree of the punishment I would have liked to inflict…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nabokov-i-tyrants-destroyed-i/the-growth-of-his-power-and-fame-was-matched-in-my-imagination-by-the/) [Nabokov i Tyrants Destroyed i](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nabokov-i-tyrants-destroyed-i/) > [I turned what was a wonderful case of self-reliance into a case of self-exile. Which is not uncommon, I think, in people who grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-newman/i-turned-what-was-a-wonderful-case-of-self-reliance-into-a-case-of/) [Leigh Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-newman/) > [Humor is widely used by Indians to deal with life. Indian gatherings are marked by laughter and jokes, many directed at the horrors of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-gunn-allen/humor-is-widely-used-by-indians-to-deal-with-life-indian-gatherings/) [Paula Gunn Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-gunn-allen/) > [The Gnostics believed that exile was the essential condition of man. Do you agree? I do. The artist and the addict both wrestle with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-gnostics-believed-that-exile-was-the-essential-condition-of-man/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [The perpetuation of slavery, the exile and extermination of American Indians, and the passage of Jim Crow laws weren't carried out at the bidding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/the-perpetuation-of-slavery-the-exile-and-extermination-of-american/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [In New York City, everyone is an exile, none more so than the Americans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/in-new-york-city-everyone-is-an-exile-none-more-so-than-the-americans/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [I have always seen the Clinton Foundation - yes, they do a lot of charitable good works. But by my lights, the charitable good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/i-have-always-seen-the-clinton-foundation-yes-they-do-a-lot-of/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [We live in an era where masses of people come and go across a hostile planet, desolate and violent. Refugees, emigrants, exiles, deportees. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/we-live-in-an-era-where-masses-of-people-come-and-go-across-a-hostile/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) [Browse all 512 Exile quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exile/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As long as there have been men on earth, reflected the Count, there have been men in exile. From primitive tribes to the most advanced societies, someone has occasionally been told by his fellow men to pack his bags, cross the border, and never set foot on his native soil again. But perhaps this was to be expected. After all, exile was the punishment that God meted out to Adam in the very first chapter of the human comedy; and that He meted out to Cain a few pages later. Yes, exile was as old as mankind. But the Russians were the first people to master the notion of sending a man into exile at home.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Amor Towles" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/as-long-as-there-have-been-men-on-earth-reflected-the-count-there/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Exile" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/as-long-as-there-have-been-men-on-earth-reflected-the-count-there/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/amor-towles-1249_exile_as-long-as-there-have-been-men-on-earth_1987645.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/amor-towles-1249_exile_as-long-as-there-have-been-men-on-earth_1987645.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/amor-towles-1249_exile_as-long-as-there-have-been-men-on-earth_1987645.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As long as there have been men on earth, reflected the Count, there have been men in exile. From primitive…” — Amor Towles", "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": "Amor Towles", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“As long as there have been...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/as-long-as-there-have-been-men-on-earth-reflected-the-count-there/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/as-long-as-there-have-been-men-on-earth-reflected-the-count-there/#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 } } ] } ```