--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a curious thought that the earliest…" description: "\"“It is a curious thought that the earliest description of the steam-engine in antiquity describes its use for the magic opening of the temple doors, wh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/frederick-soddy-16246_economics_it-is-a-curious-thought-that-the-earlies_2540885.jpg" --- # It is a curious thought that the earliest description of… ![“It is a curious thought that the earliest description of the steam-engine in antiquity describes its use for the magic opening of the temple doors, when the priests lit the fires on the altars, to deceive the populace into ascribing to a deity what was the work of the engineer. In much the same…” quote by Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/frederick-soddy-16246_economics_it-is-a-curious-thought-that-the-earlies_2540885.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/frederick-soddy-16246_economics_it-is-a-curious-thought-that-the-earlies_2540885.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/frederick-soddy-16246_economics_it-is-a-curious-thought-that-the-earlies_2540885.jpg) > ““It is a curious thought that the earliest description of the steam-engine in antiquity describes its use for the magic opening of the temple doors, when the priests lit the fires on the altars, to deceive the populace into ascribing to a deity what was the work of the engineer. In much the same way today, the almost boundless fecundity of the creative scientific discoveries and inventions of the age are being appropriated for the purpose of the mysterious opening of doors into the holy of holies of the temples of mammon by a hierarchy of imposters and humbugs, whom it is the first task of a sane civilization to expose and clear out.”” [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) ## 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 scientific breakthroughs are often co-opted by powerful elites to manipulate public belief, disguising engineering as divine intervention. **In simple terms:** Science can be misused by those in power to control people. Key Takeaway Expose and challenge deceptive uses of technology. Themes power science manipulation ethics society Mood skeptical concerned Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - political campaigns - corporate marketing - religious propaganda - public policy debates - media narratives Key Concepts technology appropriation illusion authority critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How can we ensure transparency in scientific applications? - What safeguards protect against elite exploitation? A Different Perspective It may overstate historical accuracy of ancient steam-engine use. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Altars Deceive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/altars-deceive-1432183/) [Ascribing Deity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ascribing-deity-1432184/) [Deity Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deity-work-1432182/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Engine Antiquity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engine-antiquity-1432181/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Steam Engine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steam-engine-688389/) [Technocracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technocracy/) ## Related quotes > [The hymns of David, the plays of Shakespeare, the metaphysics of Descartes, the crimes of Borgia, the virtues of Antonine, the atheism of yesterday…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/the-hymns-of-david-the-plays-of-shakespeare-the-metaphysics-of/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [“Our culture of violence is an incubator, where our children are the crop of future techno-warrior killers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/our-culture-of-violence-is-an-incubator-where-our-children-are-the/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [“In this place a mind was at work to negate the image of a free and intact man. 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Technopoly eliminates alternatives to itself in precisely the way Aldous Huxley outlined in Brave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/with-the-rise-of-technopoly-one-of-those-thought-worlds-disappears/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [The question about progress has become the question whether we can discover any way of submitting to the worldwide paternalism of a technocracy without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-question-about-progress-has-become-the-question-whether-we-can/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-sinclair/you-talk-about-german-technocracy-and-you-get-automobiles/) [Gordon Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-sinclair/) > [The human mind, in taking us down the path of technocracy, has become the adversary of life itself and collaterally the adversary of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/the-human-mind-in-taking-us-down-the-path-of-technocracy-has-become/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [“The effect of modern war is to eliminate retrogressive types, while sparing the technocracy and increasing its hold upon public affairs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-effect-of-modern-war-is-to-eliminate-retrogressive-types-while/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-sinclair/you-talk-about-japanese-technocracy-and-you-get-radios/) [Gordon Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-sinclair/) > [One would think that by the second decade of the twenty-first century, the intellectual poverty of technocracy and the primacy of politics over it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/one-would-think-that-by-the-second-decade-of-the-twenty-first-century/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [“Technocracy gave us the idea of progress, and of necessity loosened our bonds with tradition—whether political or spiritual. Technocracy filled the air with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/technocracy-gave-us-the-idea-of-progress-and-of-necessity-loosened/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) ## More by Frederick Soddy > [The pure air and dazzling snow belong to things beyond the reach of all personal feeling, almost beyond the reach of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/the-pure-air-and-dazzling-snow-belong-to-things-beyond-the-reach-of/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [It is probable that all heavy matter possesses - latent and bound up with the structure of the atom - a similar quantity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/it-is-probable-that-all-heavy-matter-possesses-latent-and-bound-up/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [Innumerable entirely new compounds have been produced in the last century. 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It puts into man's hands the key to using the fundamental energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/there-has-been-no-discovery-like-it-in-the-history-of-man-it-puts/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [ \[The blame for the future 'plight of civilization\] must rest on scientific men, equally with others, for being incapable of accepting the responsibility for… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/the-blame-for-the-future-plight-of-civilization-must-rest-on/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [In so far as such developments utilise the natural energy running to waste, as in water power, they may be accounted as pure gain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/in-so-far-as-such-developments-utilise-the-natural-energy-running-to/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [Some of the beliefs and legends bequethed to us by Antquity are so universally and firmly established that we have become accustomed to consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/some-of-the-beliefs-and-legends-bequethed-to-us-by-antquity-are-so/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [With all our mastery over the powers of Nature we have adhered to the view that the struggle for existence is a permanent and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/with-all-our-mastery-over-the-powers-of-nature-we-have-adhered-to-the/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [Four circles to the kissing come, The smaller are the benter. The bend is just the inverse of The distance from the centre. Though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/four-circles-to-the-kissing-come-the-smaller-are-the-benter-the-bend/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [The dropping of the Atomic Bomb is a very deep problem... Instead of commemorating Hiroshima we should celebrate... man's triumph over the problem \[of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/the-dropping-of-the-atomic-bomb-is-a-very-deep-problem-instead-of/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [Physical science enjoys the distinction of being the most fundamental of the experimental sciences, and its laws are obeyed universally, so far as is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/physical-science-enjoys-the-distinction-of-being-the-most-fundamental/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [It is curious to reflect, for example, upon the remarkable legend of the Philosopher's Stone, one of the oldest and most universal beliefs, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/it-is-curious-to-reflect-for-example-upon-the-remarkable-legend-of/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) [Explore all 40 Frederick Soddy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) ## More Economics quotes > [Don't let's lose sight of what creates wealth. 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