--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What brought it to pass? What disaster…" description: "\"“What brought it to pass? What disaster took their reason away from men? What whip lashed them to their knees in shame and submission? The worship of t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a70/ayn-rand-59_shame_what-brought-it-to-pass-what-disaster-to_2626590.jpg" --- # What brought it to pass? What disaster took their reason… ![“What brought it to pass? What disaster took their reason away from men? What whip lashed them to their knees in shame and submission? The worship of the word "We.” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a70/ayn-rand-59_shame_what-brought-it-to-pass-what-disaster-to_2626590.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a70/ayn-rand-59_shame_what-brought-it-to-pass-what-disaster-to_2626590.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a70/ayn-rand-59_shame_what-brought-it-to-pass-what-disaster-to_2626590.jpg) > ““What brought it to pass? What disaster took their reason away from men? What whip lashed them to their knees in shame and submission? The worship of the word "We.”” [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. Disasters strip men of reason, forcing submission to collective word “We”. **In simple terms:** Collective pressure erodes individuality. Key Takeaway Resist herd mentality. Themes individualism collectivism freedom Mood critical philosophical Type political ideological When to use this quote - political movements - corporate culture - social media Key Concepts autonomy social pressure identity Questions to Reflect On - When is collective identity beneficial? - How to balance self and group? A Different Perspective Collectivism can provide safety nets. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brought Pass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brought-pass-2154436/) [Disaster Took](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disaster-took-2154435/) [Lashed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lashed-559965/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) [Whip Lashed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whip-lashed-2154437/) ## Related quotes > [What whip lashed them to their knees in shame and submission? The worship of the word "We.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/what-whip-lashed-them-to-their-knees-in-shame-and-submission-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [I would prefer to get lashed rather than go to prison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-moskos/i-would-prefer-to-get-lashed-rather-than-go-to-prison/) [Peter Moskos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-moskos/) > [We're all getting lashed to the great wheel of uniformity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-james-waller/we-re-all-getting-lashed-to-the-great-wheel-of-uniformity/) [Robert James Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-james-waller/) > [I want to put out music I really believe in, and when I felt that was threatened, I lashed out at everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-arthur/i-want-to-put-out-music-i-really-believe-in-and-when-i-felt-that-was/) [James Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-arthur/) > [“Ivar grabbed hold of my shoulders, swung me into a strung-up fishing net, and then smashed me into a set of shelves. Clutter rained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-allison-moulton/ivar-grabbed-hold-of-my-shoulders-swung-me-into-a-strung-up-fishing/) [Courtney Allison Moulton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-allison-moulton/) > [“I would have made her a part of me. If I could, I would have had a notch cut in my already aging side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-banville/i-would-have-made-her-a-part-of-me-if-i-could-i-would-have-had-a/) [John Banville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-banville/) > [Satire, though it may exaggerate the vice it lashes, is not justified in creating it in order that it may be lashed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/satire-though-it-may-exaggerate-the-vice-it-lashes-is-not-justified/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [“Her tone strengthened until it shone with steel. “So do your worst, Cut Hawk, because I can survive you.” Cut didn’t reply, but his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pepper-winters/her-tone-strengthened-until-it-shone-with-steel-so-do-your-worst-cut/) [Pepper Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pepper-winters/) > [“I was snagged around the midriff and thrown back to the bed, my head hitting the pillows, and Vance Crowe rolled his body over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-ashley/i-was-snagged-around-the-midriff-and-thrown-back-to-the-bed-my-head/) [Kristen Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-ashley/) > [Thus with my lips have I denounced you, while my heart, bleeding within me, called you tender names. It was love lashed by its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thus-with-my-lips-have-i-denounced-you-while-my-heart-bleeding-within-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I moaned then, tilting my head back to give him better access. His hands clamped on my waist, then moved—one going to cup my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/i-moaned-then-tilting-my-head-back-to-give-him-better-access-his/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [For some reason, we are truly convinced that if we criticize ourselves, the criticism will lead to change. If we are harsh, we believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geneen-roth/for-some-reason-we-are-truly-convinced-that-if-we-criticize-ourselves/) [Geneen Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geneen-roth/) > [The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-books-that-the-world-calls-immoral-are-the-books-that-show-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [It's a shame that when you've actually lived some life and have something to write about, they're saying you're too old to come out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kt-tunstall/it-s-a-shame-that-when-you-ve-actually-lived-some-life-and-have/) [KT Tunstall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kt-tunstall/) > [“So she bowed her head and devoted herself to Beartown’s real traditional sports: shame and silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/so-she-bowed-her-head-and-devoted-herself-to-beartown-s-real/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) ## 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 Shame quotes > [“So she bowed her head and devoted herself to Beartown’s real traditional sports: shame and silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/so-she-bowed-her-head-and-devoted-herself-to-beartown-s-real/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [It's a shame that when you've actually lived some life and have something to write about, they're saying you're too old to come out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kt-tunstall/it-s-a-shame-that-when-you-ve-actually-lived-some-life-and-have/) [KT Tunstall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kt-tunstall/) > [The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-books-that-the-world-calls-immoral-are-the-books-that-show-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [For some reason, we are truly convinced that if we criticize ourselves, the criticism will lead to change. If we are harsh, we believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geneen-roth/for-some-reason-we-are-truly-convinced-that-if-we-criticize-ourselves/) [Geneen Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geneen-roth/) > [Mine would be, "We will stand together, he and I. One in victory, one in shame. Only then can I truly own the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mine-would-be-we-will-stand-together-he-and-i-one-in-victory-one-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Build a bridge over shame by teaching kids about sexual abuse. Give them a chance to run to us should they encounter it. Be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-byers-ruch/build-a-bridge-over-shame-by-teaching-kids-about-sexual-abuse-give/) [Carolyn Byers Ruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-byers-ruch/) > [Telling a story of illness, one pulls a thread through a narrow opening flanked on one side by shame and the other by trivia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/telling-a-story-of-illness-one-pulls-a-thread-through-a-narrow/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [ I guarantee you \[Hillary Clinton\] is smoking in humiliation over the idea that she needs to heal and that \[Donald\] Trump's the guy to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/i-guarantee-you-hillary-clinton-is-smoking-in-humiliation-over-the/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [“There's something energizing about getting what you want, even if that something is shame.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riley-sager/there-s-something-energizing-about-getting-what-you-want-even-if-that/) [Riley Sager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riley-sager/) > [Most readers, then and now, have at some time experienced the humiliation of being told that their occupation is reprehensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/most-readers-then-and-now-have-at-some-time-experienced-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [My influences are jazz, blues, European classical music; they are rock music and pop music. So many kinds of music. World music from different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rokia-traore/my-influences-are-jazz-blues-european-classical-music-they-are-rock/) [Rokia Traore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rokia-traore/) > [“He stopped at an intersection, panting, rubbing at the twinge in his hamstrings, looking around, though he knew no cars were coming in either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-mina/he-stopped-at-an-intersection-panting-rubbing-at-the-twinge-in-his/) [Denise Mina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-mina/) > [“Shame is the deepest of the “negative emotions,” a feeling we will do almost anything to avoid. Unfortunately, our abiding fear of shame impairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/shame-is-the-deepest-of-the-negative-emotions-a-feeling-we-will-do/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“To shame our sins He blushed in blood; He closed His eyes to show us God; Let all the world fall down and know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-of-clairvaux/to-shame-our-sins-he-blushed-in-blood-he-closed-his-eyes-to-show-us/) [Bernard of Clairvaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-of-clairvaux/) > [I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/i-never-wonder-to-see-men-wicked-but-i-often-wonder-to-see-them-not/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) [Browse all 4,033 Shame quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What brought it to pass? What disaster took their reason away from men? What whip lashed them to their knees in shame and submission? The worship of the word \"We.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ayn Rand" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/what-brought-it-to-pass-what-disaster-took-their-reason-away-from-men/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Shame" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/what-brought-it-to-pass-what-disaster-took-their-reason-away-from-men/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a70/ayn-rand-59_shame_what-brought-it-to-pass-what-disaster-to_2626590.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a70/ayn-rand-59_shame_what-brought-it-to-pass-what-disaster-to_2626590.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a70/ayn-rand-59_shame_what-brought-it-to-pass-what-disaster-to_2626590.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What brought it to pass? What disaster took their reason away from men? What whip lashed them to their knees…” — 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": "“What brought it to pass? What...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/what-brought-it-to-pass-what-disaster-took-their-reason-away-from-men/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/what-brought-it-to-pass-what-disaster-took-their-reason-away-from-men/#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 } } ] } ```