--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Antiquity! thou wondrous charm, what art…" description: "\"Antiquity! thou wondrous charm, what art thou? that being nothing art everything? When thou wert, thou wert not antiquity - then thou wert nothing, but..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caa/charles-lamb-1144_art_antiquity-thou-wondrous-charm-what-art-t_1716684.jpg" --- # Antiquity! thou wondrous charm, what art thou? that being… ![“Antiquity! thou wondrous charm, what art thou? that being nothing art everything? When thou wert, thou wert not antiquity - then thou wert nothing, but hadst a remoter antiquity, as thou calledst it, to look back to with blind veneration; thou thyself being to thyself flat, jejune, modern! What…” quote by Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caa/charles-lamb-1144_art_antiquity-thou-wondrous-charm-what-art-t_1716684.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caa/charles-lamb-1144_art_antiquity-thou-wondrous-charm-what-art-t_1716684.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caa/charles-lamb-1144_art_antiquity-thou-wondrous-charm-what-art-t_1716684.jpg) > “Antiquity! thou wondrous charm, what art thou? that being nothing art everything? When thou wert, thou wert not antiquity - then thou wert nothing, but hadst a remoter antiquity, as thou calledst it, to look back to with blind veneration; thou thyself being to thyself flat, jejune, modern! What mystery lurks in this retroversion? or what half Januses are we, that cannot look forward with the same idolatry with which we for ever revert! The mighty future is as nothing, being everything! the past is everything, being nothing!” [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He reflects on the paradox of antiquity and modernity, questioning how reverence for the past hinders forward vision. **In simple terms:** Questioning reverence for past limits future. Key Takeaway Cultivate balanced respect for history and progress. Themes history modernity paradox reverence Mood thoughtful critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - education - creative work - cultural criticism - personal growth Key Concepts temporal perspective identity philosophical inquiry Questions to Reflect On - How can we honor history without being trapped by it? - What practices foster forward‑looking thinking? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on past may stifle innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Antiquity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antiquity/) [Antiquity Thou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antiquity-thou-1298367/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind/) [Charm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/charm/) [Flats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flats/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Idolatry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idolatry/) [Janus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/janus/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Modern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Thou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thou/) [Thou art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thou-art/) [Thou Wert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thou-wert-1298368/) [Thyself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thyself/) [Veneration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/veneration/) ## Related quotes > [Is it not the glory of the people of America, that whilst they have paid a decent regard to the opinions of former times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/is-it-not-the-glory-of-the-people-of-america-that-whilst-they-have/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“If thou wert my fool, nuncle, I’ld have thee beaten for being old before thy time. LEAR. How’s that? FOOL. Thou shouldst not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/if-thou-wert-my-fool-nuncle-i-ld-have-thee-beaten-for-being-old/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I love thee like puddings; if thou wert pie I'd eat thee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ray/i-love-thee-like-puddings-if-thou-wert-pie-i-d-eat-thee/) [John Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ray/) > [“I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot; I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosa-luxemburg/i-know-thy-works-that-thou-are-neither-cold-nor-hot-i-would-that-thou/) [Rosa Luxemburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosa-luxemburg/) > [Strength of my heart, I need not fail, Not mind to fear but to obey, With such a Leader, who could quail? Thou art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-carmichael/strength-of-my-heart-i-need-not-fail-not-mind-to-fear-but-to-obey/) [Amy Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-carmichael/) > [“REV3.15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. REV3.16 So then because thou…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rev3-15-i-know-thy-works-that-thou-art-neither-cold-nor-hot-i-would/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [O majesty unspeakable and dread!Wert thou less mighty than Thou art,Thou wert, O Lord, too great for our belief,Too little for our heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-faber/o-majesty-unspeakable-and-dread-wert-thou-less-mighty-than-thou-art/) [Frederick William Faber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-faber/) > [“A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee t' attain to! If thou wert the lion, the fox would beguile thee; if thou wert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-beastly-ambition-which-the-gods-grant-thee-t-attain-to-if-thou-wert/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Thou wert my guide, philosopher, and friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/thou-wert-my-guide-philosopher-and-friend/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Most glorious night! Thou wert not sent for slumber!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/most-glorious-night-thou-wert-not-sent-for-slumber/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [“Ah, Iokanaan, Iokanaan, thou wert the man that I loved alone among men! All other men were hateful to me. But thou wert beautiful!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/ah-iokanaan-iokanaan-thou-wert-the-man-that-i-loved-alone-among-men/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“He who helped thee when thou wert in trouble ought not afterwards to be despised by thee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-grimm/he-who-helped-thee-when-thou-wert-in-trouble-ought-not-afterwards-to/) [Jacob Grimm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-grimm/) > [Though thou wert scattered to the wind, Yet is there plenty of the kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/though-thou-wert-scattered-to-the-wind-yet-is-there-plenty-of-the-kind/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [Damn the age. I'll write for antiquity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/damn-the-age-i-ll-write-for-antiquity/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [ I know \[my label\], in any case: a double face, a charming Janus, and underneath, the house motto: "Be wary". On my business cards:"Jean-Baptiste… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-know-my-label-in-any-case-a-double-face-a-charming-janus-and/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) ## More by Charles Lamb > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [In the indications of female poverty there can be no disguise. No woman dresses below herself from caprice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/in-the-indications-of-female-poverty-there-can-be-no-disguise-no/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [To sigh, yet feel no pain; To weep, yet scarce know why; To sport an hour with Beauty's chain, Then throw it idly by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/to-sigh-yet-feel-no-pain-to-weep-yet-scarce-know-why-to-sport-an-hour/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [“I love to lose myself in other men's minds. When I am not walking, I am reading.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-love-to-lose-myself-in-other-men-s-minds-when-i-am-not-walking-i-am/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [While childhood, and while dreams, producing childhood, shall be left, imagination shall not have spread her holy wings totally to fly the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/while-childhood-and-while-dreams-producing-childhood-shall-be-left/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Man, while he loves, is never quite depraved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/man-while-he-loves-is-never-quite-depraved/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Summer, as my friend Coleridge waggishly writes, has set in with its usual severity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/summer-as-my-friend-coleridge-waggishly-writes-has-set-in-with-its/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/here-cometh-april-again-and-as-far-as-i-can-see-the-world-hath-more/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [A presentation copy...is a copy of a book whoch does not sell, sent you by the author, with his foolish autograph at the beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book-whoch-does-not-sell-sent-you/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I counsel thee, shut not thy heart, nor thy library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-counsel-thee-shut-not-thy-heart-nor-thy-library/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Nothing to me is more distasteful than that entire complacency and satisfaction which beam in the countenances of a new married couple; in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/nothing-to-me-is-more-distasteful-than-that-entire-complacency-and/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [My theory is to enjoy life, but the practice is against it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/my-theory-is-to-enjoy-life-but-the-practice-is-against-it/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/all-all-are-gone-the-old-familiar-faces/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Those evening bells! those evening bells! How many a tale their music tells Of youth and home, and that sweet time When last I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/those-evening-bells-those-evening-bells-how-many-a-tale-their-music/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Beholding heaven, and feeling hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/beholding-heaven-and-feeling-hell/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) [Explore all 283 Charles Lamb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## More Antiquity quotes > [The clatter of a changing world is not pleasant, and those who have enjoyed the comforts and protection of the old order may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/the-clatter-of-a-changing-world-is-not-pleasant-and-those-who-have/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Astrology is knocking at the gates of our universities: A Tübingen professor has switched over to astrology and a course on astrology was given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/astrology-is-knocking-at-the-gates-of-our-universities-a-t-bingen/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [Everyone who wants to know what will happen ought to examine what has happened: everything in this world in any epoch has their replicas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/everyone-who-wants-to-know-what-will-happen-ought-to-examine-what-has/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [“A very long time ago, some 2.5 million years B.C., the mother of human species as we know it, our ultimate ancestor, appeared in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-f-cantor/a-very-long-time-ago-some-2-5-million-years-b-c-the-mother-of-human/) [Norman F. Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-f-cantor/) > [What subsists to-day by violence continues to-morrow by acquiescence and is perpetuated by tradition; till at last the hoary abuse shakes the gray hairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/what-subsists-to-day-by-violence-continues-to-morrow-by-acquiescence/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [“Since antiquity, men have defined themselves by those who are excluded.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-robinson/since-antiquity-men-have-defined-themselves-by-those-who-are-excluded/) [Jim Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-robinson/) > [While the business of education in Europe consists in lectures upon the ruins of Palmyra and the antiquities of Herculaneum , or in disputes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-rush/while-the-business-of-education-in-europe-consists-in-lectures-upon/) [Benjamin Rush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-rush/) > [In antiquity there was only silence. In the nineteenth century, with the invention of the machine, Noise was born. Today, Noise triumphs and reigns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luigi-russolo/in-antiquity-there-was-only-silence-in-the-nineteenth-century-with/) [Luigi Russolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luigi-russolo/) > [Arles is certainly one of the most interesting towns I have ever seen, whether viewed as a place remarkable for the objects of antiquity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/arles-is-certainly-one-of-the-most-interesting-towns-i-have-ever-seen/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [An established government has an infinite advantage, by that very circumstance of its being established--the bulk of mankind being governed by authority, not reason,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/an-established-government-has-an-infinite-advantage-by-that-very/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [In antiquity slaves were, in all honesty called slaves. In the middle ages, they took the name of serfs. Nowadays they are called wage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/in-antiquity-slaves-were-in-all-honesty-called-slaves-in-the-middle/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [I was brought up in Florence, a beautiful medieval town whose rhythm is completely in antiquity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oleg-cassini/i-was-brought-up-in-florence-a-beautiful-medieval-town-whose-rhythm/) [Oleg Cassini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oleg-cassini/) > [Although Damascus is considered the oldest city in the world, the date of its foundation going beyond tradition, there are very few relics of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bayard-taylor/although-damascus-is-considered-the-oldest-city-in-the-world-the-date/) [Bayard Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bayard-taylor/) > [“Educated and ambitious, with their own forthright opinions, the women of the Garvey set did more to determine political direction than many councillors. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-h-septimius/educated-and-ambitious-with-their-own-forthright-opinions-the-women/) [A. H. Septimius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-h-septimius/) > [Book burning is a charming old custom, hallowed by antiquity. It has been practiced for centuries by fascists, communists, atheists, school children, rival authors,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-armour/book-burning-is-a-charming-old-custom-hallowed-by-antiquity-it-has/) [Richard Armour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-armour/) [Browse all 244 Antiquity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antiquity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Antiquity! thou wondrous charm, what art thou? that being nothing art everything? When thou wert, thou wert not antiquity - then thou wert nothing, but hadst a remoter antiquity, as thou calledst it, to look back to with blind veneration; thou thyself being to thyself flat, jejune, modern! What mystery lurks in this retroversion? or what half Januses are we, that cannot look forward with the same idolatry with which we for ever revert! 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