--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Never in all their history have men been…" description: "\"Never in all their history have men been able truly to conceive of the world as one: a single sphere, a globe, having the qualities of a globe, a round..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d57/archibald-macleish-7676_able_never-in-all-their-history-have-men-been_9713.png" --- # Never in all their history have men been able truly to… ![“Never in all their history have men been able truly to conceive of the world as one: a single sphere, a globe, having the qualities of a globe, a round earth in which all the directions eventually meet, in which there is no center because every point, or none, is center - an equal earth which all…” quote by Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d57/archibald-macleish-7676_able_never-in-all-their-history-have-men-been_9713.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d57/archibald-macleish-7676_able_never-in-all-their-history-have-men-been_9713.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d57/archibald-macleish-7676_able_never-in-all-their-history-have-men-been_9713.png) > “Never in all their history have men been able truly to conceive of the world as one: a single sphere, a globe, having the qualities of a globe, a round earth in which all the directions eventually meet, in which there is no center because every point, or none, is center - an equal earth which all men occupy as equals. The airman's earth, if free men make it, will be truly round: a globe in practice, not in theory.” [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote envisions a world where humanity perceives the planet as a unified, borderless sphere, eliminating hierarchies and emphasizing shared equality. **In simple terms:** A truly round, egalitarian earth. Key Takeaway Equality emerges when we see the world as one. Themes global unity equality humanism spatial perception political philosophy Mood hopeful inspirational Type philosophical visionary When to use this quote - international diplomacy - global education initiatives - climate cooperation - human rights advocacy Key Concepts spherical metaphor centerlessness shared destiny Practical Applications - designing inclusive policies - crafting global narratives Questions to Reflect On - How does perceiving the earth as a sphere affect our treatment of others? - What structures reinforce the notion of a 'center' in society? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Airmen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/airmen/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Equal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equal/) [Equal Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equal-earth-357189/) [Free man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-man/) [Globe Having](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/globe-having-357188/) [Globes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/globes/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Round earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/round-earth/) [Rounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rounds/) [Single Sphere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-sphere-357187/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Sphere Globe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sphere-globe-357190/) [Spheres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spheres/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [. . . persist in that invocation until the unity of the world is subsumed for you in a single sphere, so that with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-ata-allah/persist-in-that-invocation-until-the-unity-of-the-world-is-subsumed/) [Ibn Ata Allah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-ata-allah/) > [All men are by nature equal, made all of the same earth by one Workman; and however we deceive ourselves, as dear unto God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/all-men-are-by-nature-equal-made-all-of-the-same-earth-by-one-workman/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“All men are by nature equal, made of the same earth by one workman; and however we deceive ourselves, as dear unto God is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hunter/all-men-are-by-nature-equal-made-of-the-same-earth-by-one-workman-and/) [Elizabeth Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hunter/) > [Around, around the sun we go: The moon goes round the earth. We do not die of death: We die of vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/around-around-the-sun-we-go-the-moon-goes-round-the-earth-we-do-not/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Rather than have it the principal thing in my son's mind, I would gladly have him think that the sun went round the earth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-arnold/rather-than-have-it-the-principal-thing-in-my-son-s-mind-i-would/) [Thomas Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-arnold/) > [“You are all misleading one another, and are yourselves deceived. The sun does not go round the earth, but the earth goes round the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/you-are-all-misleading-one-another-and-are-yourselves-deceived-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“The world is round while earth is sphere. I might see you again at the end point where the start point. Everyone knows how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salmon-sallos-chia/the-world-is-round-while-earth-is-sphere-i-might-see-you-again-at-the-2/) [Salmon Sallos Chia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salmon-sallos-chia/) > [The Earth was small, light blue, and so touchingly alone, our home that must be defended like a holy relic. The Earth was absolutely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexey-leonov/the-earth-was-small-light-blue-and-so-touchingly-alone-our-home-that/) [Alexey Leonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexey-leonov/) > [The significance of Columbus's discovery was that on a round earth, humanity is more interconnected than on a flat one. On a round earth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/the-significance-of-columbus-s-discovery-was-that-on-a-round-earth/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [At the round earth's imagined corners, blow Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise From death, you numberless infinities Of souls \*\*\*\* All whom war,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/at-the-round-earth-s-imagined-corners-blow-your-trumpets-angels-and/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Recovery challenges the established order and as such, is a 'great idea' along with the ideas of evolution or a 'round earth'; turning all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-davidson/recovery-challenges-the-established-order-and-as-such-is-a-great-idea/) [Laurie Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-davidson/) > [“Tell me," Wittgenstein's asked a friend, "why do people always say, it was natural for man to assume that the sun went round the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/tell-me-wittgenstein-s-asked-a-friend-why-do-people-always-say-it-was/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [At the round earth's imagined corners, blow your trumpets, angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/at-the-round-earth-s-imagined-corners-blow-your-trumpets-angels/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [We are more gullible and superstitious today than we were in the Middle Ages, and an example of modern credulity is the widespread belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/we-are-more-gullible-and-superstitious-today-than-we-were-in-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“The world is round while earth is sphere.I might see you again at the end point where the start point. Everyone know how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salmon-sallos-chia/the-world-is-round-while-earth-is-sphere-i-might-see-you-again-at-the/) [Salmon Sallos CHia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salmon-sallos-chia/) ## More by Archibald MacLeish > [How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms, by truth when it is attacked by lies, by faith when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/how-shall-freedom-be-defended-by-arms-when-it-is-attacked-by-arms-by/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Around, around the sun we go: The moon goes round the earth. We do not die of death: We die of vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/around-around-the-sun-we-go-the-moon-goes-round-the-earth-we-do-not/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [What you really have to know is one: yourself. And the only way you can know that one is in the mirror of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-you-really-have-to-know-is-one-yourself-and-the-only-way-you-can/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Poets... are literal-minded men who will squeeze a word till it hurts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/poets-are-literal-minded-men-who-will-squeeze-a-word-till-it-hurts/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [“American foreign policy was a mirror image of Russian foreign policy: whatever the Russians did, we did in reverse. American domestic policies were conducted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/american-foreign-policy-was-a-mirror-image-of-russian-foreign-policy/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [To separate journalism and poetry, therefore-history and poetry-to set them up at opposite ends of the world of discourse, is to separate seeing from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/to-separate-journalism-and-poetry-therefore-history-and-poetry-to-set/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [You burned the city of London in our houses and we felt the flames.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/you-burned-the-city-of-london-in-our-houses-and-we-felt-the-flames/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [The infantile cowardice of our time which demands an external pattern, a nonhuman authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/the-infantile-cowardice-of-our-time-which-demands-an-external-pattern/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Races didn't bother the Americans. They were something a lot better than any race. They were a People. They were the first self-constituted, self-declared,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/races-didn-t-bother-the-americans-they-were-something-a-lot-better/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Young poets are advised by their elders to avoid the practice of journalism as they would wet socks and gin before breakfast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/young-poets-are-advised-by-their-elders-to-avoid-the-practice-of/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [There are those, I know, who will reply that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/there-are-those-i-know-who-will-reply-that-the-liberation-of-humanity/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [“What is freedom? Freedom is the right to choose: the right to create for oneself the alternatives of choice. Without the possibility of choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-is-freedom-freedom-is-the-right-to-choose-the-right-to-create/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [A poem should not mean but be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/a-poem-should-not-mean-but-be/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [What once was cuddled must learn to kiss The cold wonn's mouth. That's all the mystery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-once-was-cuddled-must-learn-to-kiss-the-cold-wonn-s-mouth-that-s/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [“You wanted justice ,didn't you?There isn't any...there is only love." - J.B's wife”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/you-wanted-justice-didn-t-you-there-isn-t-any-there-is-only-love-j-b/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) [Explore all 88 Archibald MacLeish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) [Greg Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-perry/) > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It was an important period for us, because even though we weren't a "punk band", and what became a model for a punk band,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mallinder/it-was-an-important-period-for-us-because-even-though-we-weren-t-a/) [Stephen Mallinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mallinder/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) [Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Never in all their history have men been able truly to conceive of the world as one: a single sphere, a globe, having the qualities of a globe, a round earth in which all the directions eventually meet, in which there is no center because every point, or none, is center - an equal earth which all men occupy as equals. 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