--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the end, what brings civilizations…" description: "\"In the end, what brings civilizations down is when the elites lose confidence in the rightness of their cause.\" — Charles Krauthammer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/789/charles-krauthammer-1232_cause_in-the-end-what-brings-civilizations-dow_2360125.png" --- # In the end, what brings civilizations down is when the… ![“In the end, what brings civilizations down is when the elites lose confidence in the rightness of their cause.” quote by Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/789/charles-krauthammer-1232_cause_in-the-end-what-brings-civilizations-dow_2360125.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/789/charles-krauthammer-1232_cause_in-the-end-what-brings-civilizations-dow_2360125.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/789/charles-krauthammer-1232_cause_in-the-end-what-brings-civilizations-dow_2360125.png) > “In the end, what brings civilizations down is when the elites lose confidence in the rightness of their cause.” [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) ## 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 warns that when elite leaders lose belief in their cause’s moral rightness, it can destabilize and ultimately collapse societies. **In simple terms:** Loss of moral confidence among leaders can topple civilizations. Key Takeaway Uphold ethical conviction in leadership. Themes politics ethics leadership society stability Mood cautious serious analytical Type political critical When to use this quote - government policy - corporate governance - civil society initiatives Key Concepts integrity trust public discourse Questions to Reflect On - What sustains moral confidence in leaders? - How can societies rebuild trust after loss? A Different Perspective Overconfidence or blind loyalty can also be dangerous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) ## Related quotes > [A fanatic's willingness to kill or be killed in the service of a cause cannot prove the rightness of that cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poul-anderson/a-fanatic-s-willingness-to-kill-or-be-killed-in-the-service-of-a/) [Poul Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poul-anderson/) > [“...it is in the rightness of our cause, and not the fear of our bombs, that our prospects of victory lie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/it-is-in-the-rightness-of-our-cause-and-not-the-fear-of-our-bombs/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [Turning 50 can be difficult, sometimes dangerous, for women. The danger is in that blip that can come from the fact that you become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-french/turning-50-can-be-difficult-sometimes-dangerous-for-women-the-danger/) [Dawn French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-french/) > [I go through periods when I feel confident and then I'm apt to be impulsive. But then I go through other times where I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-anderson/i-go-through-periods-when-i-feel-confident-and-then-i-m-apt-to-be/) [Gillian Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-anderson/) > [You can lose confidence when you're not in the rhythm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-kimmich/you-can-lose-confidence-when-you-re-not-in-the-rhythm/) [Joshua Kimmich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-kimmich/) > [As a quarterback, you have to have a short memory. Don't lose your confidence, and stay within yourself. Don't try to do too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cowher/as-a-quarterback-you-have-to-have-a-short-memory-don-t-lose-your/) [Bill Cowher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cowher/) > [You will feel discouraged; you will lose confidence in your abilities; you will be bored with the characters–and the only way to overcome these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/you-will-feel-discouraged-you-will-lose-confidence-in-your-abilities/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [What comes first, the chicken or the egg? You start out bad, you don't really feel right, you don't have the same explosion, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-berkman/what-comes-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg-you-start-out-bad-you-don-t/) [Lance Berkman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-berkman/) > [“His greatest weakness was a tendency to lose confidence when he made a blunder; if he let in one goal he became flustered and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling/his-greatest-weakness-was-a-tendency-to-lose-confidence-when-he-made/) [J.K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling/) > [The frustrating part is knowing that you've done it before, knowing that you can play, but then your game starts going down the wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-fleetwood/the-frustrating-part-is-knowing-that-you-ve-done-it-before-knowing/) [Tommy Fleetwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-fleetwood/) > [All humans are imperfect. At times, the confident lose confidence, the patient misplace their patience, the generous act selfish, and the knowledgeable second guess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suman-rai/all-humans-are-imperfect-at-times-the-confident-lose-confidence-the/) [Suman Rai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suman-rai/) > [“when we do what is known to be wrong, two negative things happened. First, we feel guilt and this guilt eats away confidence. Second,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-j-schwartz/when-we-do-what-is-known-to-be-wrong-two-negative-things-happened/) [David J. Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-j-schwartz/) > [You must not lose confidence in God because you lost confidence in your pastor. If our confidence in God had to depend upon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-must-not-lose-confidence-in-god-because-you-lost-confidence-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Never be shaken, no matter what happens or what others may say. Never be flustered; never lose confidence. This is the way we should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/never-be-shaken-no-matter-what-happens-or-what-others-may-say-never/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [I had an upbringing in which I was allowed to be free and use my mind. My parents only helped me to be myself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliette-lewis/i-had-an-upbringing-in-which-i-was-allowed-to-be-free-and-use-my-mind/) [Juliette Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliette-lewis/) ## More by Charles Krauthammer > [Obama and the Democrats were so critical of what Bush did, the interrogations, the secret prisons, Guantanamo and all of that, and even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/obama-and-the-democrats-were-so-critical-of-what-bush-did-the/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [“America is the most welcoming, religiously tolerant, philo-semitic country in the world. No nation since Cyrus the Great’s Persia has done more for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/america-is-the-most-welcoming-religiously-tolerant-philo-semitic/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [I believe in what I believe, and I think after all these years I've heard a lot of arguments, and I'm convinced by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/i-believe-in-what-i-believe-and-i-think-after-all-these-years-i-ve/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [With our financial house on fire, Obama makes clear both in in his speech and his budget that the essence of his presidency will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/with-our-financial-house-on-fire-obama-makes-clear-both-in-in-his/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [The conservative idea is not that government has no role. You might have argued that in the thirties when conservatives opposed the New Deal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/the-conservative-idea-is-not-that-government-has-no-role-you-might/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [The war is not going well and it is time to say why. It has been fought with half-measures. It has been fought with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/the-war-is-not-going-well-and-it-is-time-to-say-why-it-has-been/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [“International stability is never a given. It is never the norm. When achieved, it is the product of self-conscious action by the great powers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/international-stability-is-never-a-given-it-is-never-the-norm-when/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [Look, I don't mind if the President sends a budget which he knows is not going to achieve anything. But when he prefaces his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/look-i-don-t-mind-if-the-president-sends-a-budget-which-he-knows-is/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [“Politics is the moat, the walls, beyond which lie the barbarians. Fail to keep them at bay, and everything burns.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/politics-is-the-moat-the-walls-beyond-which-lie-the-barbarians-fail/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [Don't touch my junk, you airport security goon--my package belongs to no one but me, and do you really think I'm a Nigerian nut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/don-t-touch-my-junk-you-airport-security-goon-my-package-belongs-to/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [“The Russian Revolution and its imitators (Chinese, Cuban, Vietnamese, Cambodian) tried to atomize society so thoroughly--to war against the mediating structures that stand between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/the-russian-revolution-and-its-imitators-chinese-cuban-vietnamese/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [Where religion is trivialized, one is unlikely to find persecution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/where-religion-is-trivialized-one-is-unlikely-to-find-persecution/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [We must now brace ourselves for disquisitions on peer pressure, adolescent anomie, and rage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/we-must-now-brace-ourselves-for-disquisitions-on-peer-pressure/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [Post-Watergate morality, by which anything left private is taken as presumptive evidence of wrongdoing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/post-watergate-morality-by-which-anything-left-private-is-taken-as/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [“The largest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity,' warns Czech president Vaclav Klaus, 'is no longer socialism. It is, instead, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/the-largest-threat-to-freedom-democracy-the-market-economy-and/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) [Explore all 268 Charles Krauthammer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) ## More Cause quotes > [The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect was already in the cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-bergson/the-present-contains-nothing-more-than-the-past-and-what-is-found-in/) [Henri Bergson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-bergson/) > [Time travel offends our sense of cause and effect - but maybe the universe doesn't insist on cause and effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/time-travel-offends-our-sense-of-cause-and-effect-but-maybe-the/) [Edward M. Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/) > [Films are tricky because for years you're getting told you're about to make it and you're about to be busy for four or six…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-mills/films-are-tricky-because-for-years-you-re-getting-told-you-re-about/) [Mike Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mills/) > [Take the L out of Lover 'cause we're Over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/take-the-l-out-of-lover-cause-we-re-over/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Must whales and dolphins be subjected to deafening noise that will cause more than 3.5 million instances of temporary and/or permanent hearing loss? For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brosnan/must-whales-and-dolphins-be-subjected-to-deafening-noise-that-will/) [Pierce Brosnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brosnan/) > [Nothing can be produced without a cause, and the effect is but the cause reproduced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/nothing-can-be-produced-without-a-cause-and-the-effect-is-but-the/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Knowing the cause of something is not going to help you to be free of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/knowing-the-cause-of-something-is-not-going-to-help-you-to-be-free-of/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [You miss me and tease me 'cause in the end you're gonna please me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-isaacs/you-miss-me-and-tease-me-cause-in-the-end-you-re-gonna-please-me/) [Gregory Isaacs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-isaacs/) > [If I lose the ball I cause the team a problem. I am here to provide solutions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-busquets/if-i-lose-the-ball-i-cause-the-team-a-problem-i-am-here-to-provide/) [Sergio Busquets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-busquets/) > [We are too much accustomed to attribute to a single cause that which is the product of several, and the majority of our controversies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-are-too-much-accustomed-to-attribute-to-a-single-cause-that-which/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“Until you find a cause you can die for, you are not worthy to live.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/until-you-find-a-cause-you-can-die-for-you-are-not-worthy-to-live/) [Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/) > [Pacifism as a mass movement aims to avoid suffering; pacifists often say that no cause is worth suffering or dying for. The ethos of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-michnik/pacifism-as-a-mass-movement-aims-to-avoid-suffering-pacifists-often/) [Adam Michnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-michnik/) > [“...There are so many paths you can follow. So much effect from one simple cause.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-allen/there-are-so-many-paths-you-can-follow-so-much-effect-from-one-simple/) Lee Allen > [War can be prevented only by broad-minded statesmanship - a statesmanship that understands how to enlist people's interests in a leading cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-key/war-can-be-prevented-only-by-broad-minded-statesmanship-a/) [Ellen Key](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-key/) > [I think the other misconceptions when the film came out, he was very upset that it was so widely released and so widely seen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-zwigoff/i-think-the-other-misconceptions-when-the-film-came-out-he-was-very/) [Terry Zwigoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-zwigoff/) Browse all 1,323 Cause quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the end, what brings civilizations down is when the elites lose confidence in the rightness of their cause.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Krauthammer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/in-the-end-what-brings-civilizations-down-is-when-the-elites-lose/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cause" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/in-the-end-what-brings-civilizations-down-is-when-the-elites-lose/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/789/charles-krauthammer-1232_cause_in-the-end-what-brings-civilizations-dow_2360125.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/789/charles-krauthammer-1232_cause_in-the-end-what-brings-civilizations-dow_2360125.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/789/charles-krauthammer-1232_cause_in-the-end-what-brings-civilizations-dow_2360125.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the end, what brings civilizations down is when the elites lose confidence in the rightness of their cause.” — Charles Krauthammer", "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": "Charles Krauthammer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In the end, what brings civilizations...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/in-the-end-what-brings-civilizations-down-is-when-the-elites-lose/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/in-the-end-what-brings-civilizations-down-is-when-the-elites-lose/#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 } } ] } ```