--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Civilization had too many rules for me…" description: "\"Civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best to rewrite them.\" — Bill Cosby" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/bill-cosby-720_civilization_civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-s_31238.jpg" --- # Civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best… ![“Civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best to rewrite them.” quote by Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/bill-cosby-720_civilization_civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-s_31238.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/bill-cosby-720_civilization_civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-s_31238.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/bill-cosby-720_civilization_civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-s_31238.jpg) > “Civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best to rewrite them.” [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker rejects societal constraints, seeking to redefine them to suit personal freedom. **In simple terms:** Rebelling against restrictive norms Key Takeaway Redefine rules for autonomy Themes individualism rebellion creativity freedom nonconformity Mood defiant reflective hopeful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - creative professions - entrepreneurial ventures - activist movements - alternative lifestyle choices Key Concepts social structures personal agency norms Practical Applications - designing new policies - crafting innovative narratives Questions to Reflect On - What limits do societal rules impose on personal expression? - When does redefining norms become harmful to community? A Different Perspective While personal reinterpretation can foster growth, it may also undermine collective order and shared values. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Best Rewrite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-rewrite-427334/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Civilization Rules](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization-rules-427333/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Open minded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/open-minded/) [Psychedelic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychedelic/) [Rewrite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rewrite/) [Rules Did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rules-did-427335/) ## Related quotes > [I thought society would do the right thing. Now I look around and I think -- society never does the right thing. Sometimes people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-dodd/i-thought-society-would-do-the-right-thing-now-i-look-around-and-i/) [Christina Dodd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-dodd/) > [“Each time we face a new experience, we bring with us all past experiences - both good and bad - as well as those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/each-time-we-face-a-new-experience-we-bring-with-us-all-past/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I knew all the rules but the rules did not know me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-knew-all-the-rules-but-the-rules-did-not-know-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And what were the rules at St. Cloud's? What were Larch's rules? Which rules did Dr. Larch observe, which ones did he break, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-what-were-the-rules-at-st-cloud-s-what-were-larch-s-rules-which/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [So I wonder this, as life billows smoke inside my head This little game where nothing is sure Why would you play by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-matthews/so-i-wonder-this-as-life-billows-smoke-inside-my-head-this-little/) [Dave Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-matthews/) > [“When you were trying to enforce law and order, it was difficult to explain that the rules did not actually apply to you personally.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-follett/when-you-were-trying-to-enforce-law-and-order-it-was-difficult-to/) [Ken Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-follett/) > [LSD wanted to tell me something… It gave me an inner joy, an open mindedness, a gratefulness, open eyes and an internal sensitivity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-hofmann/lsd-wanted-to-tell-me-something-it-gave-me-an-inner-joy-an-open/) [Albert Hofmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-hofmann/) > [The best part of all, the absolutely most delicious part, is finishing it and then doing it over I rewrite a lot, over and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/the-best-part-of-all-the-absolutely-most-delicious-part-is-finishing/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [We've always dreamt of a TV series and working in film. When we first sat down to seriously write 'A Little Nightmare Music,' to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksey-igudesman/we-ve-always-dreamt-of-a-tv-series-and-working-in-film-when-we-first/) [Aleksey Igudesman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksey-igudesman/) > [To this day, I get rewrite offers where they say: 'We feel this script needs work with character, dialogue, plot and tone,' and when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sayles/to-this-day-i-get-rewrite-offers-where-they-say-we-feel-this-script/) [John Sayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sayles/) > [I've been shocked by film actors - 25 and under - having such confidence and cockiness to rewrite a scene. My background is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-marie-duff/i-ve-been-shocked-by-film-actors-25-and-under-having-such-confidence/) [Anne-Marie Duff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-marie-duff/) > [To rewrite history on the bases of hypotheses which have not materialized is not only a fruitless task, but, in my eyes, meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-monnet/to-rewrite-history-on-the-bases-of-hypotheses-which-have-not/) [Jean Monnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-monnet/) > [Reread, rewrite, reread, rewrite. If it still doesn't work, throw it away. It's a nice feeling, and you don't want to be cluttered with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-dunmore/reread-rewrite-reread-rewrite-if-it-still-doesn-t-work-throw-it-away/) [Helen Dunmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-dunmore/) > [I can't. You can't rewrite the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-asher/i-can-t-you-can-t-rewrite-the-past/) [Jay Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-asher/) > [“If you had your time all over again…? She was keen to know. You can't rewrite history. I have no idea what I'd do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maeve-binchy/if-you-had-your-time-all-over-again-she-was-keen-to-know-you-can-t/) [Maeve Binchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maeve-binchy/) ## More by Bill Cosby > [Guys standing around and talking about Spanish fly: 'You know anything about Spanish fly?' 'No, tell me about it.' Well there's this girl Crazy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/guys-standing-around-and-talking-about-spanish-fly-you-know-anything/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [You come to my comedy show to be entertained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/you-come-to-my-comedy-show-to-be-entertained/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [Pay off your student loan. Even if you don't have a job...Because when you finally get a job you're going to be one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/pay-off-your-student-loan-even-if-you-don-t-have-a-job-because-when/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [Sex education may be a good idea in the schools, but I don't believe the kids should be given homework.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/sex-education-may-be-a-good-idea-in-the-schools-but-i-don-t-believe/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [Dentists tell you not to pick your teeth with any sharp metal object. Then you sit in their chair and the first thing they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/dentists-tell-you-not-to-pick-your-teeth-with-any-sharp-metal-object/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [When a person has a gun, sometimes their mind clicks that this thing will win arguments and straighten people out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/when-a-person-has-a-gun-sometimes-their-mind-clicks-that-this-thing/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [The truth is that parents are not really interested in justice. They just want quiet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/the-truth-is-that-parents-are-not-really-interested-in-justice-they/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [“Parents are not really interested in justice. They just want quiet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/parents-are-not-really-interested-in-justice-they-just-want-quiet/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [God has a sense of humor though and he must see funny things in us. He must also have some love. We're still here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/god-has-a-sense-of-humor-though-and-he-must-see-funny-things-in-us-he/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [When you become senile, you won't know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/when-you-become-senile-you-won-t-know-it/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [I feel that in-person contact with people is the most important thing in comedy. While I'm up on stage, I can actually put myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/i-feel-that-in-person-contact-with-people-is-the-most-important-thing/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [It is a point of pride for the American male to keep the same size Jockey shorts for his entire life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/it-is-a-point-of-pride-for-the-american-male-to-keep-the-same-size/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [“The past is a ghost, the future is a dream, and all we ever have is now.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/the-past-is-a-ghost-the-future-is-a-dream-and-all-we-ever-have-is-now/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [Suddenly, this romantic agony was enriched by a less romantic one: I had to go to the bathroom. Needless to say, I couldn't let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/suddenly-this-romantic-agony-was-enriched-by-a-less-romantic-one-i/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [We are the only animals that let our kids come back home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/we-are-the-only-animals-that-let-our-kids-come-back-home/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) [Explore all 393 Bill Cosby quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) [Browse all 4,084 Civilization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best to rewrite them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill Cosby" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-so-i-did-my-best-to-rewrite/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civilization" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-so-i-did-my-best-to-rewrite/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/bill-cosby-720_civilization_civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-s_31238.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/bill-cosby-720_civilization_civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-s_31238.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/bill-cosby-720_civilization_civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-s_31238.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best to rewrite them.” — Bill Cosby", "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": "Bill Cosby", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Civilization had too many rules for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-so-i-did-my-best-to-rewrite/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-so-i-did-my-best-to-rewrite/#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 } } ] } ```