--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This box is useless,\" said Alliance…" description: "\"“This box is useless,\" said Alliance 6-7349. Should it be what they claim of it,\" said Harmony 9-2642, \"then it would bring ruin to the Department of C..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ayn-rand-59_change_this-box-is-useless-said-alliance-6-7349_1011722.jpg" --- # This box is useless," said Alliance 6-7349. Should it be… ![“This box is useless," said Alliance 6-7349. Should it be what they claim of it," said Harmony 9-2642, "then it would bring ruin to the Department of Candles.” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ayn-rand-59_change_this-box-is-useless-said-alliance-6-7349_1011722.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ayn-rand-59_change_this-box-is-useless-said-alliance-6-7349_1011722.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ayn-rand-59_change_this-box-is-useless-said-alliance-6-7349_1011722.jpg) > ““This box is useless," said Alliance 6-7349. Should it be what they claim of it," said Harmony 9-2642, "then it would bring ruin to the Department of Candles.”” [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## 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 suggests that an object deemed useless could be dangerous if its true nature is misunderstood. **In simple terms:** Useless things may be harmful if misjudged. Key Takeaway Question appearances before assuming danger. Themes perception danger misinterpretation Mood cautious skeptical Type advice warning When to use this quote - product evaluation - risk management - policy making Key Concepts philosophy risk assessment Questions to Reflect On - What evidence supports the claim? - How can we verify an object's true purpose? A Different Perspective It may overstate the threat without evidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Candles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/candles/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Falsehood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsehood/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Invention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invention/) ## Related quotes > [“Classical conventionalism shows us everywhere, behind passive society, a hidden power, under the names of Law, or Legislator (or, by a mode of expression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/classical-conventionalism-shows-us-everywhere-behind-passive-society/) [Frédéric Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [“The narrower their lives, the wider their hips.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/the-narrower-their-lives-the-wider-their-hips/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“There is considerable hypocrisy in conventionalism. Any thinking person is aware of this paradox; but in dealing with conventional people it is advantageous to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/there-is-considerable-hypocrisy-in-conventionalism-any-thinking/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [It is no accident that the Victorian age, the heyday of conventionalism, was the cultural bloom of economic liberalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/it-is-no-accident-that-the-victorian-age-the-heyday-of/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [“It comforted the great to deal with it and they knew, a man who could reduce any color to grey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/it-comforted-the-great-to-deal-with-it-and-they-knew-a-man-who-could/) [John le Carré](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [Nihilism is but the other side of conventionalism; its creed consists of negations of the current so-called positive values, to which it remains bound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/nihilism-is-but-the-other-side-of-conventionalism-its-creed-consists/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“In case we become candles, I want to have a nice pose”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roronoa-zoro/in-case-we-become-candles-i-want-to-have-a-nice-pose/) Roronoa Zoro > [Dear, Eyelashes, Wishbones, Dandelions. Pennies, Shooting Stars, 11:11, and Birthday Candles, do your job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dear-eyelashes-wishbones-dandelions-pennies-shooting-stars-11-11-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ “He exuded wisdom-even the wisest...were pale, flickering candles next to the nourishing solar illumination of \[his\] insights.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aprilynne-pike/he-exuded-wisdom-even-the-wisest-were-pale-flickering-candles-next-to/) [Aprilynne Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aprilynne-pike/) > [“She would rather light candles than curse the darkness and her glow has warmed the world. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/she-would-rather-light-candles-than-curse-the-darkness-and-her-glow/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [Only a candle that is lit and shining can give light to other candles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/only-a-candle-that-is-lit-and-shining-can-give-light-to-other-candles/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I think people just think I am crazy because they see me doing stand-up, but I am generally not. I am very sad. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-lee/i-think-people-just-think-i-am-crazy-because-they-see-me-doing-stand/) [Bobby Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-lee/) > [Ladies, don't be afraid to put out candles, flowers & wine for your men! They may return the favor!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-lachey/ladies-don-t-be-afraid-to-put-out-candles-flowers-wine-for-your-men/) [Vanessa Lachey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-lachey/) > [A need for many candles may arise in every nation's history to light up the darkness in the country. Most of the time, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/a-need-for-many-candles-may-arise-in-every-nation-s-history-to-light/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“With the candles on the table, the space becomes a luminous cocoon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-foley/with-the-candles-on-the-table-the-space-becomes-a-luminous-cocoon/) [Lucy Foley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-foley/) ## More by Ayn Rand > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“This was reality, she thought, this sense of clear outlines, of purpose, of lightness, of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-was-reality-she-thought-this-sense-of-clear-outlines-of-purpose/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She moved her hand and let it rest against his. He did not withdraw his fingers and he did not pretend indifference. She bent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-moved-her-hand-and-let-it-rest-against-his-he-did-not-withdraw/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [This miracle of me is mine to own and keep, and mine to guard, and mine to use, and mine to kneel before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-miracle-of-me-is-mine-to-own-and-keep-and-mine-to-guard-and-mine/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“There was still one response, the greatest, that she had missed. She thought: To find a feeling that would hold, as their sum, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-was-still-one-response-the-greatest-that-she-had-missed-she/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/inflation-is-not-caused-by-the-actions-of-private-citizens-but-by-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“We are fornicating in the sight of six billion people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-fornicating-in-the-sight-of-six-billion-people/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She was fifteen when it occurred to her for the first time that women did not run railroads and that people might object. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-was-fifteen-when-it-occurred-to-her-for-the-first-time-that-women/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Fransisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?" He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/fransisco-you-re-some-kind-of-very-high-nobility-aren-t-you-he/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/have-you-felt-it-too-have-you-seen-how-your-best-friends-love/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/every-coercive-monopoly-was-created-by-government-intervention-into/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [We are all brothers under the skin - and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-all-brothers-under-the-skin-and-i-for-one-would-be-willing-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) [Explore all 1,777 Ayn Rand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## More Candles quotes > [“With the candles on the table, the space becomes a luminous cocoon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-foley/with-the-candles-on-the-table-the-space-becomes-a-luminous-cocoon/) [Lucy Foley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-foley/) > [A need for many candles may arise in every nation's history to light up the darkness in the country. Most of the time, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/a-need-for-many-candles-may-arise-in-every-nation-s-history-to-light/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Ladies, don't be afraid to put out candles, flowers & wine for your men! They may return the favor!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-lachey/ladies-don-t-be-afraid-to-put-out-candles-flowers-wine-for-your-men/) [Vanessa Lachey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-lachey/) > [I think people just think I am crazy because they see me doing stand-up, but I am generally not. I am very sad. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-lee/i-think-people-just-think-i-am-crazy-because-they-see-me-doing-stand/) [Bobby Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-lee/) > [Only a candle that is lit and shining can give light to other candles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/only-a-candle-that-is-lit-and-shining-can-give-light-to-other-candles/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“She would rather light candles than curse the darkness and her glow has warmed the world. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/she-would-rather-light-candles-than-curse-the-darkness-and-her-glow/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [ “He exuded wisdom-even the wisest...were pale, flickering candles next to the nourishing solar illumination of \[his\] insights.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aprilynne-pike/he-exuded-wisdom-even-the-wisest-were-pale-flickering-candles-next-to/) [Aprilynne Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aprilynne-pike/) > [Dear, Eyelashes, Wishbones, Dandelions. Pennies, Shooting Stars, 11:11, and Birthday Candles, do your job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dear-eyelashes-wishbones-dandelions-pennies-shooting-stars-11-11-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In case we become candles, I want to have a nice pose”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roronoa-zoro/in-case-we-become-candles-i-want-to-have-a-nice-pose/) Roronoa Zoro > [“It’s the beating of my heart. The way I lie awake, playing with shadows slowly climbing up my wall. The gentle moonlight slipping through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-eriksson/it-s-the-beating-of-my-heart-the-way-i-lie-awake-playing-with-shadows/) [Charlotte Eriksson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-eriksson/) > [A million candles have burned themselves out. Still I read on. (Montresor)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/a-million-candles-have-burned-themselves-out-still-i-read-on-montresor/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [A few years ago, I got to a point where I realised that the only way you can tell someone's age is how they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/a-few-years-ago-i-got-to-a-point-where-i-realised-that-the-only-way/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [I will light candles this Christmas, Candles of joy, despite all sadness, Candles of hope where despair keeps watch. Candles of courage where fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-thurman/i-will-light-candles-this-christmas-candles-of-joy-despite-all/) [Howard Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-thurman/) > [Every little candle is a great knight fighting against the darkness! Every time you feel yourself tiny, remember these brave candles!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/every-little-candle-is-a-great-knight-fighting-against-the-darkness/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“What did the candles smell like?” she asked. Was she kidding me? “Like Eau du Zombie. I don't know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karina-halle/what-did-the-candles-smell-like-she-asked-was-she-kidding-me-like-eau/) [Karina Halle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karina-halle/) [Browse all 163 Candles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/candles/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“This box is useless,\" said Alliance 6-7349. Should it be what they claim of it,\" said Harmony 9-2642, \"then it would bring ruin to the Department of Candles.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ayn Rand" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-box-is-useless-said-alliance-6-7349-should-it-be-what-they-claim/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Candles" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-box-is-useless-said-alliance-6-7349-should-it-be-what-they-claim/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ayn-rand-59_change_this-box-is-useless-said-alliance-6-7349_1011722.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ayn-rand-59_change_this-box-is-useless-said-alliance-6-7349_1011722.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ayn-rand-59_change_this-box-is-useless-said-alliance-6-7349_1011722.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This box is useless,\" said Alliance 6-7349. Should it be what they claim of it,\" said Harmony 9-2642, \"then…” — Ayn Rand", "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": "Ayn Rand", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“This box is useless,\" said Alliance...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-box-is-useless-said-alliance-6-7349-should-it-be-what-they-claim/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-box-is-useless-said-alliance-6-7349-should-it-be-what-they-claim/#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 } } ] } ```