--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That is the key to history. Terrific…" description: "\"That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended - civilizations are built up - excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wro..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ae/c-s-lewis-2-132_break_that-is-the-key-to-history-terrific-ener_109932.png" --- # That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended… ![“That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended - civilizations are built up - excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top, and then it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine…” quote by C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ae/c-s-lewis-2-132_break_that-is-the-key-to-history-terrific-ener_109932.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ae/c-s-lewis-2-132_break_that-is-the-key-to-history-terrific-ener_109932.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ae/c-s-lewis-2-132_break_that-is-the-key-to-history-terrific-ener_109932.png) > “That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended - civilizations are built up - excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top, and then it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down.” [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Civilizations rise through collective effort, but recurring human flaws—selfishness and cruelty—cause their eventual decline. **In simple terms:** Human nature both builds and destroys societies. Key Takeaway Flaws in leadership lead to societal collapse. Themes history civilization human nature leadership decline Mood reflective cautionary Type philosophical historical When to use this quote - political revolutions - corporate scandals - environmental crises Key Concepts cyclical rise and fall moral decay Practical Applications - promote ethical leadership - institutional checks Questions to Reflect On - What mechanisms can safeguard societies from selfish leadership? - Can institutions be designed to self-correct? A Different Perspective Overemphasizes moral failings; external shocks (e.g., natural disasters) also trigger collapse. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Break](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/break/) [Breaking down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breaking-down/) [Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Civilizations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilizations/) [Civilizations Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilizations-built-1308001/) [Cruel People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruel-people/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Energy Expended](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy-expended-604866/) [Excellent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excellent/) [Expended Civilizations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expended-civilizations-1308000/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Fatal flaws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fatal-flaws/) [Flaws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flaws/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) [Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keys/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Selfish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfish/) [Slides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slides/) [Terrific](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrific/) [Terrific Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrific-energy-1308002/) [Yards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yards/) ## Related quotes > [Civilizations are built by the ceaseless toil of a succession of generations. 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The barbaric death penalty violates our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-brennan/one-area-of-law-more-than-any-other-besmirches-the-constitutional/) [William J. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-brennan/) > [Besides the obvious difference, there was not much distinction between losing a best friend and losing a lover: it was all about intimacy. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/besides-the-obvious-difference-there-was-not-much-distinction-between/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [The fatal flaw of most utopian visions is that they're fundamentally static, and that's not a comfortable place for humans to live. 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As”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/really-great-moral-teachers-never-do-introduce-new-moralities-it-is/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [“When He died in the Wounded World He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/when-he-died-in-the-wounded-world-he-died-not-for-men-but-for-each/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [All I am in private life is a literary critic and historian, that's my job...And I'm prepared to say on that basis if anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/all-i-am-in-private-life-is-a-literary-critic-and-historian-that-s-my/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [If a man is going to write on chemistry, he learns chemistry. The same is true of Christianity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/if-a-man-is-going-to-write-on-chemistry-he-learns-chemistry-the-same/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [The first fact in the history of Christendom is a number of people who say they have seen the Resurrection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-first-fact-in-the-history-of-christendom-is-a-number-of-people/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [I#pray because the need flows out of me all the time-walking and sleeping. It does not change # God - it changes me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/i-pray-because-the-need-flows-out-of-me-all-the-time-walking-and/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Are the gods not just?' 'Oh no, child. What would become us us if they were?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/are-the-gods-not-just-oh-no-child-what-would-become-us-us-if-they-were/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Love is more than an emotion, it is a decision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/love-is-more-than-an-emotion-it-is-a-decision/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Ink is the great cure for all human ills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/ink-is-the-great-cure-for-all-human-ills/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [A man may have to die for our country: but no man must, in any exclusive sense, live for his country. He who surrenders…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/a-man-may-have-to-die-for-our-country-but-no-man-must-in-any/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [War creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/war-creates-no-absolutely-new-situation-it-simply-aggravates-the/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) [Explore all 1,190 C. S. Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) ## More Break quotes > [I made, like, five movies while I was in college. I think they just weren't memorable movies. 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