--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We entered the 20th century trying to…" description: "\"We entered the 20th century trying to deal with three ideas purporting to define or describe or explain three spheres of action, development and confli..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/bruce-jackson-17743_20th-century_we-entered-the-20th-century-trying-to-de_3034010.jpg" --- # We entered the 20th century trying to deal with three… ![“We entered the 20th century trying to deal with three ideas purporting to define or describe or explain three spheres of action, development and conflict: Darwin on the natural world, Freud on the internal world, Marx on the economic world.” quote by Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/bruce-jackson-17743_20th-century_we-entered-the-20th-century-trying-to-de_3034010.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/bruce-jackson-17743_20th-century_we-entered-the-20th-century-trying-to-de_3034010.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/bruce-jackson-17743_20th-century_we-entered-the-20th-century-trying-to-de_3034010.jpg) > “We entered the 20th century trying to deal with three ideas purporting to define or describe or explain three spheres of action, development and conflict: Darwin on the natural world, Freud on the internal world, Marx on the economic world.” [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) ## 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 outlines three dominant intellectual frameworks—Darwin, Freud, Marx—that shaped modern thought about nature, mind, and economy. **In simple terms:** Three major theories shaped modern understanding of world, mind, and economy. Key Takeaway Recognize how each lens influences analysis. Themes intellectual history philosophy social theory Mood analytical critical Type theoretical academic When to use this quote - academic research - policy analysis - public discourse Key Concepts evolution psychoanalysis political economy Questions to Reflect On - How do you integrate multiple perspectives? - What limits arise from relying on a single theory? A Different Perspective These frameworks can oversimplify complex realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [20th century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/20th-century/) [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Conflict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/) [Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darwin/) [Deal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deal/) [Define](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/define/) [Describe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/describe/) [Development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/development/) [Economic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic/) [Entered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entered/) [Explain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explain/) [Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freud/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Internal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internal/) [Internal World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internal-world-1266208/) [Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marx/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Natural world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-world/) [Spheres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spheres/) [Three](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-freud-4970334/) [World Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-marx-4970335/) ## Related quotes > [Our time has been distinguished, more than by anything else, by a mastery, a control, of the external world, and by an almost total…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/our-time-has-been-distinguished-more-than-by-anything-else-by-a/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [Many contemporary painters feel that their landscapes come from within and are brought to the surface and given form as a result of various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-betts/many-contemporary-painters-feel-that-their-landscapes-come-from/) [Edward Betts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-betts/) > [As a kid, I lived almost entirely inside books, and eventually the books started returning the favor. A lot of my internal world feels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/as-a-kid-i-lived-almost-entirely-inside-books-and-eventually-the/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [The more we nourish our internal world, the more powerful we grow in the external world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-l-taylor/the-more-we-nourish-our-internal-world-the-more-powerful-we-grow-in/) [Susan L. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-l-taylor/) > [“Greatness belongs to those who have mastered their internal world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendon-burchard/greatness-belongs-to-those-who-have-mastered-their-internal-world/) [Brendon Burchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendon-burchard/) > [“The science of Raja-Yoga, in the first place, proposes to give us such a means of observing the internal states. The instrument is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-science-of-raja-yoga-in-the-first-place-proposes-to-give-us-such/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Everything that happens in my day is a transaction between the external world and my internal world. Everything is raw material. Everything is relevant.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/everything-that-happens-in-my-day-is-a-transaction-between-the/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [It's not easy trying to navigate your internal world in the public eye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/it-s-not-easy-trying-to-navigate-your-internal-world-in-the-public-eye/) [Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/) > [Positive thinking is about remembering that our internal world creates and is more powerful than the external.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-blake/positive-thinking-is-about-remembering-that-our-internal-world/) [J. P. Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-p-blake/) > [We have a Father, and He cares about our internal world - issues of motive, issues of fear, issues of validation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eldredge/we-have-a-father-and-he-cares-about-our-internal-world-issues-of/) [John Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eldredge/) > [“If things seemed challenging, instead of trying to change them physically (which is what I did pre-NDE), I began checking in with my internal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-moorjani/if-things-seemed-challenging-instead-of-trying-to-change-them/) [Anita Moorjani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-moorjani/) > [There is no wisdom without mastery over the mystery of our internal world, the world that opens the door to understanding others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tian-dayton/there-is-no-wisdom-without-mastery-over-the-mystery-of-our-internal/) [Tian Dayton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tian-dayton/) > [The only thing I hope for is that, regardless of what the outward world is for different people, different nations, I hope their internal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-pavlova/the-only-thing-i-hope-for-is-that-regardless-of-what-the-outward/) [Vera Pavlova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-pavlova/) > [Each atom is trying to fly off from its centre. In the internal world, each thought is trying to go beyond control. Again each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/each-atom-is-trying-to-fly-off-from-its-centre-in-the-internal-world/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [TV ushered in the age of postliteracy. And we have gone so far beyond that. I mean, what with the Internet and Google and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/tv-ushered-in-the-age-of-postliteracy-and-we-have-gone-so-far-beyond/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) ## More by Bruce Jackson > [War is big and there are only so many reporters and only so many places for their words and images to appear. Choices are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/war-is-big-and-there-are-only-so-many-reporters-and-only-so-many/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [Which suggests something about media and war: it's not just that events happen and the media documents and presents them. There is a third…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/which-suggests-something-about-media-and-war-it-s-not-just-that/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [War is grounded in the notion of triumph and defeat. It is zero-sum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/war-is-grounded-in-the-notion-of-triumph-and-defeat-it-is-zero-sum/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [Television broadcasts have, in the main, been more suggestive, less specific, more distant in their images than the print press: often you knew that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/television-broadcasts-have-in-the-main-been-more-suggestive-less/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [First, those images help us understand the general and specific magnitude of disaster caused by the tsunami. The huge outpouring of aid would not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/first-those-images-help-us-understand-the-general-and-specific/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [All too often, academic departments defend their territory with the passion of cornered animals, though with far less justification.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/all-too-often-academic-departments-defend-their-territory-with-the/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [When friends and lovers die and your world gets quieter; that's when the silence comes closer; that's when next isn't the least bit theoretical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/when-friends-and-lovers-die-and-your-world-gets-quieter-that-s-when/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [Documentary films are created in an inverted funnel of declining possibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/documentary-films-are-created-in-an-inverted-funnel-of-declining/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [The media bring our wars home, but only rarely have they been able to do it in complete freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/the-media-bring-our-wars-home-but-only-rarely-have-they-been-able-to/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [All governments in all wars have used all the means at their disposal to put their own motives, decisions and actions, and the actions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/all-governments-in-all-wars-have-used-all-the-means-at-their-disposal/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [The media is not at all homogeneous in the way it tells us about war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/the-media-is-not-at-all-homogeneous-in-the-way-it-tells-us-about-war/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [The web continues to be a source of important photographs you see nowhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/the-web-continues-to-be-a-source-of-important-photographs-you-see/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [The mainstream media showed, for example, no blood and guts resulting from the 9/11 attacks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/the-mainstream-media-showed-for-example-no-blood-and-guts-resulting/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [Filmmakers who use narrators pay a price for taking the easy way: narrated films date far more quickly than films without narrators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/filmmakers-who-use-narrators-pay-a-price-for-taking-the-easy-way/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) > [Bridges become frames for looking at the world around us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/bridges-become-frames-for-looking-at-the-world-around-us/) [Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) [Explore all 36 Bruce Jackson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/) ## More 20th century quotes > [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/) [Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/) > [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/america-thrived-in-the-20th-century-because-we-made-high-school-free/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The 20th century has been marked by cynicism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to please, all without changing the status quo. In the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/the-20th-century-has-been-marked-by-cynicism-selfishness-greed-and/) [Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/) > [I've studied the lives of the 20th century's great businessmen and concluded self-confidence was instrumental in all their success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-spanos/i-ve-studied-the-lives-of-the-20th-century-s-great-businessmen-and/) [Alex Spanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-spanos/) > [Universal literacy was a 20th-century goal. Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/) [Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/) > [The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-great-wars-of-the-20th-century-made-it-into-the-worst-century-ever/) [Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/) > [That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/that-is-very-different-from-how-it-used-to-be-in-the-20th-century/) [Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/) [David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/) > [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping and yet deeply personal tale of America's hidden 20th century history - the long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-warmth-of-other-suns-is-a-sweeping-and-yet-deeply-personal-tale/) [Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/) [Browse all 672 20th century quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/20th-century/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We entered the 20th century trying to deal with three ideas purporting to define or describe or explain three spheres of action, development and conflict: Darwin on the natural world, Freud on the internal world, Marx on the economic world.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bruce Jackson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/we-entered-the-20th-century-trying-to-deal-with-three-ideas/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "20th century" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/we-entered-the-20th-century-trying-to-deal-with-three-ideas/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/bruce-jackson-17743_20th-century_we-entered-the-20th-century-trying-to-de_3034010.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/bruce-jackson-17743_20th-century_we-entered-the-20th-century-trying-to-de_3034010.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/bruce-jackson-17743_20th-century_we-entered-the-20th-century-trying-to-de_3034010.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We entered the 20th century trying to deal with three ideas purporting to define or describe or explain…” — Bruce Jackson", "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": "Bruce Jackson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We entered the 20th century trying...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/we-entered-the-20th-century-trying-to-deal-with-three-ideas/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/we-entered-the-20th-century-trying-to-deal-with-three-ideas/#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 } } ] } ```