---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: . . . what humanity most desperately…"
description: "\". . . what humanity most desperately needs is not the creation of new worlds but the recreation in terms of human comprehension of the world we have --..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/archibald-macleish-7676_accomplished_what-humanity-most-desperately-needs-is_783737.png"
---

#  . . . what humanity most desperately needs is not the…

![“. . . what humanity most desperately needs is not the creation of new worlds but the recreation in terms of human comprehension of the world we have -- and it is for this reason that arts go on for generation to generation in spite of the fact that Phidias has already carved and Homer has already…” quote by Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/archibald-macleish-7676_accomplished_what-humanity-most-desperately-needs-is_783737.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/archibald-macleish-7676_accomplished_what-humanity-most-desperately-needs-is_783737.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/archibald-macleish-7676_accomplished_what-humanity-most-desperately-needs-is_783737.png)

> “. . . what humanity most desperately needs is not the creation of new worlds but the recreation in terms of human comprehension of the world we have -- and it is for this reason that arts go on for generation to generation in spite of the fact that Phidias has already carved and Homer has already sung. The creation, we are informed, was accomplished in seven days with Sunday off, but the recreation will never be accomplished because it is always accomplished anew for each generation of living men.”

[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.

Humanity needs to reinterpret existing knowledge each generation, not just create new worlds; art endures by renewing understanding.

**In simple terms:** We must reinterpret what we know each generation.

Key Takeaway

Renew understanding continuously.

Themes

art culture knowledge

Mood

inspirational thoughtful

Type

poetic philosophical

When to use this quote

- education
- creative practice
- cultural preservation

Key Concepts

generational renewal interpretation

Questions to Reflect On

- How does each generation reshape old ideas?
- What role does art play in renewing perception?

A Different Perspective

New creations can become outdated; reinterpretation may be limited by existing frameworks.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [New world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-world/) [Phidias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phidias/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Recreation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recreation/) [Seven days](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seven-days/) [Spite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spite/) [Sunday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunday/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/)

## Related quotes

> [Are you willing to work sixteen hours a day? Rich people are. Are you willing to work seven days a week and five up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-harv-eker/are-you-willing-to-work-sixteen-hours-a-day-rich-people-are-are-you/)

[T. Harv Eker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-harv-eker/)

> [Not from a vain or shallow thought His awful Jove young Phidias brought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/not-from-a-vain-or-shallow-thought-his-awful-jove-young-phidias/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [We have not chosen this time. We cannot help it if we are born as men of the early winter of full Civilization, instead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-spengler/we-have-not-chosen-this-time-we-cannot-help-it-if-we-are-born-as-men/)

[Oswald Spengler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-spengler/)

> [It seems as if nature, in regarding the geologic night behind her, when, in five or six millenniums, she had turned out five or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-seems-as-if-nature-in-regarding-the-geologic-night-behind-her-when/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [It is a shallow criticism that would define poetry as confined to literary productions in rhyme and meter rhythm. The written poem is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/it-is-a-shallow-criticism-that-would-define-poetry-as-confined-to/)

[John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/)

> [But it is fit that the Past should be dark; though the darkness is not so much a quality of the past as of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/but-it-is-fit-that-the-past-should-be-dark-though-the-darkness-is-not/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [Herein is the explanation of the analogies, which exist in all the arts. They are the re-appearance of one mind, working in many materials…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/herein-is-the-explanation-of-the-analogies-which-exist-in-all-the/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Raphael paints wisdom, Handel sings it, Phidias carves it, Shakespeare writes it, Wren builds it, Columbus sails it, Luther preaches it, Washington arms it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/raphael-paints-wisdom-handel-sings-it-phidias-carves-it-shakespeare/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [For - to say a few words on technique - whereas the curved line was used predominantly for reasons of beauty, (Phidias, Michelangelo, Raphael,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theo-van-doesburg/for-to-say-a-few-words-on-technique-whereas-the-curved-line-was-used/)

[Theo van Doesburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theo-van-doesburg/)

> [I envy those old Greek bathers, into whose hands were delivered Pericles, and Alcibiades, and the perfect models of Phidias. They had daily before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bayard-taylor/i-envy-those-old-greek-bathers-into-whose-hands-were-delivered/)

[Bayard Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bayard-taylor/)

> [There is a connection, hard to explain logically but easy to feel, between achievement in public life and progress in the arts. The age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/there-is-a-connection-hard-to-explain-logically-but-easy-to-feel/)

[John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/)

> [Innovation is the creation of the new, or the re-arranging of the old in a new way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-vance/innovation-is-the-creation-of-the-new-or-the-re-arranging-of-the-old/)

[Mike Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-vance/)

> [Among the many acts of gratitude we owe to God, it may be accounted one to study and contemplate the perfections and beauties of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-edwards/among-the-many-acts-of-gratitude-we-owe-to-god-it-may-be-accounted/)

[Jonathan Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-edwards/)

> [There is a case for saying that the creation of new aesthetic forms has been the most fundamentally productive of all forms of human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-zachary-young/there-is-a-case-for-saying-that-the-creation-of-new-aesthetic-forms/)

[John Zachary Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-zachary-young/)

> [Wherefore give all diligence to the Spirit's motion and leadings, what it moves against, and what it leads to; for now will God make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nayler/wherefore-give-all-diligence-to-the-spirit-s-motion-and-leadings-what/)

James Nayler

## More by Archibald MacLeish

> [Never in all their history have men been able truly to conceive of the world as one: a single sphere, a globe, having the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/never-in-all-their-history-have-men-been-able-truly-to-conceive-of/)

[Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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/)

[Explore all 88 Archibald MacLeish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/)

## More Accomplished quotes

> [I never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-never-believed-in-trying-to-do-anything-whatever-i-set-out-to-do-i/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [This is, for an accomplished Latino, an accomplished African American, an accomplished anyone who disproves stereotypes, it's a constant battle in your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-sotomayor/this-is-for-an-accomplished-latino-an-accomplished-african-american/)

[Sonia Sotomayor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-sotomayor/)

> [When you have accomplished your goal simply walk away. This is the path way to Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/when-you-have-accomplished-your-goal-simply-walk-away-this-is-the/)

[Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/)

> [... even the most sublimely accomplished non-stop talker can't consistently please.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger-2/even-the-most-sublimely-accomplished-non-stop-talker-can-t/)

[J. D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger-2/)

> [ \[U\]nless oppressed groups stick together, and on alliances of self interest rather than do-goodism; nothing can be accomplished in the long run to dismantle… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/u-nless-oppressed-groups-stick-together-and-on-alliances-of-self/)

[Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/)

> [Alas, you don't need monsters for monstrous deeds to be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/alas-you-don-t-need-monsters-for-monstrous-deeds-to-be-accomplished/)

[Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/)

> [Like all writers, he measured the achievements of others by what they had accomplished, asking of them that they measure him by what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/like-all-writers-he-measured-the-achievements-of-others-by-what-they/)

[Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/)

> [I'm proud of what I've accomplished and that is empowering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/violet-chachki/i-m-proud-of-what-i-ve-accomplished-and-that-is-empowering/)

[Violet Chachki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/violet-chachki/)

> [We do not know today whether we are busy or idle. In times when we thought ourselves indolent, we have afterwards discovered that much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-do-not-know-today-whether-we-are-busy-or-idle-in-times-when-we/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [I don't know Beyoncé, but I have the impression that she's sincere, that she really is a feminist and wanted to put the word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-don-t-know-beyonc-but-i-have-the-impression-that-she-s-sincere-that/)

[Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/)

> [The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labour is immense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/the-gain-in-self-confidence-of-having-accomplished-a-tiresome-labour/)

[Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/)

> [With Epcot Center, the Disney corporation has accomplished something I didn't think possible in today's world. They have created a land of make-believe that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/with-epcot-center-the-disney-corporation-has-accomplished-something-i/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act could harm bear conservation efforts by eliminating revenues from the carefully-regulated sport hunting of polar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-ridenour/listing-the-polar-bear-under-the-endangered-species-act-could-harm/)

Amy Ridenour

> [“Great things can be accomplished, when it doesnt matter who gets the credit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/great-things-can-be-accomplished-when-it-doesnt-matter-who-gets-the/)

[Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/)

> [If I could inspire you for even a moment to be yourself and love yourself, and not let what anyone has to say hinder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-neal-hartry/if-i-could-inspire-you-for-even-a-moment-to-be-yourself-and-love/)

[Joshua Neal Hartry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-neal-hartry/)

Browse all 1,379 Accomplished quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": ". . . what humanity most desperately needs is not the creation of new worlds but the recreation in terms of human comprehension of the world we have -- and it is for this reason that arts go on for generation to generation in spite of the fact that Phidias has already carved and Homer has already sung. The creation, we are informed, was accomplished in seven days with Sunday off, but the recreation will never be accomplished because it is always accomplished anew for each generation of living men.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Archibald MacLeish"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-humanity-most-desperately-needs-is-not-the-creation-of-new/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Accomplished"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-humanity-most-desperately-needs-is-not-the-creation-of-new/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/archibald-macleish-7676_accomplished_what-humanity-most-desperately-needs-is_783737.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/archibald-macleish-7676_accomplished_what-humanity-most-desperately-needs-is_783737.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/archibald-macleish-7676_accomplished_what-humanity-most-desperately-needs-is_783737.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“. . . what humanity most desperately needs is not the creation of new worlds but the recreation in terms of…” — Archibald MacLeish",
                "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": "Archibald MacLeish",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": ". . . what humanity most...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-humanity-most-desperately-needs-is-not-the-creation-of-new/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-humanity-most-desperately-needs-is-not-the-creation-of-new/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
