--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our most intimate contact with…" description: "\"Our most intimate contact with civilizations long since dust has been through the art which has survived them.\" — Carlisle Floyd" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/carlisle-floyd-19699_art_our-most-intimate-contact-with-civilizat_2404532.jpg" --- # Our most intimate contact with civilizations long since… ![“Our most intimate contact with civilizations long since dust has been through the art which has survived them.” quote by Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/carlisle-floyd-19699_art_our-most-intimate-contact-with-civilizat_2404532.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/carlisle-floyd-19699_art_our-most-intimate-contact-with-civilizat_2404532.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/carlisle-floyd-19699_art_our-most-intimate-contact-with-civilizat_2404532.jpg) > “Our most intimate contact with civilizations long since dust has been through the art which has survived them.” [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our deepest connection to ancient civilizations is through surviving art. **In simple terms:** Art links us to ancient cultures. Key Takeaway Study art to understand past societies. Themes history art civilization Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - museum visits - historical research - education Key Concepts cultural heritage archaeology visual expression Questions to Reflect On - Which art forms reveal history best? - How does art shape our view of the past? A Different Perspective May be poetic but vague. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Civilizations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilizations/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Intimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimate/) ## Related quotes > [The rise and fall of civilizations in the long, broad course of history can be seen to have been largely a function of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-rise-and-fall-of-civilizations-in-the-long-broad-course-of/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [As noble Art has survived noble nature, so too she marches ahead of it, fashioning and awakening by her inspiration. Before Truth sends her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/as-noble-art-has-survived-noble-nature-so-too-she-marches-ahead-of-it/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [No art ever survived censorship; no art ever will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/no-art-ever-survived-censorship-no-art-ever-will/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [In the long run, the aggressive civilizations destroy themselves, almost always. It's their nature. They can't help it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-the-long-run-the-aggressive-civilizations-destroy-themselves/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [I do not believe that civilizations have to die because civilization is not an organism. It is a product of wills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-j-toynbee/i-do-not-believe-that-civilizations-have-to-die-because-civilization/) [Arnold J. Toynbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-j-toynbee/) > [“Future civilizations - better civilizations than this one - are going to judge all men by the extent to which they've been artists. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/future-civilizations-better-civilizations-than-this-one-are-going-to/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Isolationists believed that the ancient civilizations all developed independent of one another. Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, China, Egypt—all crossed a threshold into civilization about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-doherty/isolationists-believed-that-the-ancient-civilizations-all-developed/) Robert Doherty > [Civilizations proceed from the heart rather than from the head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/civilizations-proceed-from-the-heart-rather-than-from-the-head/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Words outlive people, institutions, civilizations. Words spur images, associations, memories, inspirations and synapse pulsations. Words send off physical resonations of thought into the nethersphere.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/inga-muscio/words-outlive-people-institutions-civilizations-words-spur-images/) [Inga Muscio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/inga-muscio/) > [Civilizations evolve over time, and most scholars of civilization, including people like Carol Quigley, argue that they go through periods of warring states, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-p-huntington/civilizations-evolve-over-time-and-most-scholars-of-civilization/) [Samuel P. Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-p-huntington/) > [That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended - civilizations are built up - excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/that-is-the-key-to-history-terrific-energy-is-expended-civilizations/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [All the civilizations we know have been created and directed by small intellectual aristocracies, never by people in the mass. The power of crowds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/all-the-civilizations-we-know-have-been-created-and-directed-by-small/) [Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/) > [Each succeeding civilization forgets its predecessor. Civilizations are ghouls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gutzon-borglum/each-succeeding-civilization-forgets-its-predecessor-civilizations/) [Gutzon Borglum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gutzon-borglum/) > [In all civilizations we've studied, all cultures that we know of across the Earth and across time have invested some kind of attempt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-all-civilizations-we-ve-studied-all-cultures-that-we-know-of/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We civilizations now know ourselves mortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/we-civilizations-now-know-ourselves-mortal/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) ## More by Carlisle Floyd > [We think the Puritans always dressed in black and white, which they didn't. They loved very bright colors. And there were other differences in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/we-think-the-puritans-always-dressed-in-black-and-white-which-they/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [Like any other composer of opera, I choose a subject not for polemical reasons, but because it contains vivid characters in highly charged dramatic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/like-any-other-composer-of-opera-i-choose-a-subject-not-for-polemical/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [It's necessary to track characters all the way through an opera. If you're dealing with more than one or two characters, it's very easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/it-s-necessary-to-track-characters-all-the-way-through-an-opera-if/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [I was encouraged by my mother and, to a lesser extent, by my father.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/i-was-encouraged-by-my-mother-and-to-a-lesser-extent-by-my-father/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [The artist is something of an outsider in America. I have always felt that America does not value its artists, certainly not in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/the-artist-is-something-of-an-outsider-in-america-i-have-always-felt/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [I think anything that is expressed directly and as honestly as possible will last.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/i-think-anything-that-is-expressed-directly-and-as-honestly-as/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [If I felt that one of my operas did not come off I would certainly say so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/if-i-felt-that-one-of-my-operas-did-not-come-off-i-would-certainly/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [You can't possibly predict what will last or not. But once you attempt to write for the ages, you're doomed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/you-can-t-possibly-predict-what-will-last-or-not-but-once-you-attempt/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [Socially I never was an outsider. I have never thought of the conflict element before frankly, but perhaps it was wanting to belong, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/socially-i-never-was-an-outsider-i-have-never-thought-of-the-conflict/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [It's amazing how fast generations lose sight of other generations. One of the first things the young composers who come to work with me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/it-s-amazing-how-fast-generations-lose-sight-of-other-generations-one/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [I had all the normal interests - I played basketball and I headed the school paper. But I also developed very early a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/i-had-all-the-normal-interests-i-played-basketball-and-i-headed-the/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [I've never set out consciously to write American music. I don't know what that would be unless the obvious Appalachian folk references.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/i-ve-never-set-out-consciously-to-write-american-music-i-don-t-know/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [When I've seen my operas in Europe, they have always struck me as more American than when I hear them here. I can't tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/when-i-ve-seen-my-operas-in-europe-they-have-always-struck-me-as-more/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [Anyone who creates something new or does something different artistically is going to be singled out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/anyone-who-creates-something-new-or-does-something-different/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) > [The performances of my works in the last 10 years are probably equal to all the previous years put together. There are so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/the-performances-of-my-works-in-the-last-10-years-are-probably-equal/) [Carlisle Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) [Explore all 32 Carlisle Floyd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Our most intimate contact with civilizations long since dust has been through the art which has survived them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carlisle Floyd" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/our-most-intimate-contact-with-civilizations-long-since-dust-has-been/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/our-most-intimate-contact-with-civilizations-long-since-dust-has-been/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/carlisle-floyd-19699_art_our-most-intimate-contact-with-civilizat_2404532.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/carlisle-floyd-19699_art_our-most-intimate-contact-with-civilizat_2404532.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/carlisle-floyd-19699_art_our-most-intimate-contact-with-civilizat_2404532.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our most intimate contact with civilizations long since dust has been through the art which has survived them.” — Carlisle Floyd", "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": "Carlisle Floyd", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlisle-floyd/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Our most intimate contact with civilizations...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/our-most-intimate-contact-with-civilizations-long-since-dust-has-been/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlisle-floyd/our-most-intimate-contact-with-civilizations-long-since-dust-has-been/#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 } } ] } ```