--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A civilization is integral and healthy to…" description: "\"“A civilization is integral and healthy to the extent [that] it is founded on the \"invisible\" or \"underlying\" religion, the religio perennis, that is, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/467/frithjof-schuon-23613_civilization_a-civilization-is-integral-and-healthy-t_2868643.jpg" --- # A civilization is integral and healthy to the extent… ![“A civilization is integral and healthy to the extent [that] it is founded on the "invisible" or "underlying" religion, the religio perennis, that is, to the extent [that] its expressions or forms are transparent to the Non-Formal and tend toward the Origin, thus conveying the recollection of a…” quote by Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/467/frithjof-schuon-23613_civilization_a-civilization-is-integral-and-healthy-t_2868643.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/467/frithjof-schuon-23613_civilization_a-civilization-is-integral-and-healthy-t_2868643.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/467/frithjof-schuon-23613_civilization_a-civilization-is-integral-and-healthy-t_2868643.jpg) > ““A civilization is integral and healthy to the extent \[that\] it is founded on the "invisible" or "underlying" religion, the religio perennis, that is, to the extent \[that\] its expressions or forms are transparent to the Non-Formal and tend toward the Origin, thus conveying the recollection of a lost Paradise, but also - and with all the more reason - the presentiment of a timeless Beatitude. For the Origin is at once within us and before us; time is but a spiral movement around a motionless Center.”” [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage argues that a civilization’s health depends on an underlying, invisible religion that aligns expressions with a timeless, transcendent origin, evoking a lost paradise. **In simple terms:** Civilization thrives on a hidden, timeless spiritual core. Key Takeaway Seek underlying spiritual foundations. Themes philosophy spirituality civilization Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical theological When to use this quote - religious studies - cultural analysis - personal reflection Key Concepts perennialism metaphysics cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - How can societies recognize invisible spiritual foundations? - What modern practices reflect this timeless beatitude? A Different Perspective The concept may be too abstract for practical application. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Lost Paradise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost-paradise/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [“The basic idea underlying religion is to create an atmosphere for the spiritual development of the individual.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhimrao-ramji-ambedkar/the-basic-idea-underlying-religion-is-to-create-an-atmosphere-for-the-2/) [Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhimrao-ramji-ambedkar/) > [The basic idea underlying religion is to create an atmosphere for the spiritual development of the individual. This being the situation, it is clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-r-ambedkar/the-basic-idea-underlying-religion-is-to-create-an-atmosphere-for-the/) [B. R. Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-r-ambedkar/) > [“4. "Outward longings will drive you from the eden within; they offer false pleasures that only impersonate the souls happiness, The lost paradise is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/4-outward-longings-will-drive-you-from-the-eden-within-they-offer/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [“The curse of life The story of Man’s10 abrupt expulsion from Eden – be it fiction, metaphor or literal fact – has become etched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-picknett/the-curse-of-life-the-story-of-man-s10-abrupt-expulsion-from-eden-be/) Lynn Picknett > [“A step lower and strangeness creeps in: perceiving that the world is "dense", sensing to what a degree a stone is foreign and irreducible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/a-step-lower-and-strangeness-creeps-in-perceiving-that-the-world-is/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Almost all serious stories in the world are stories of failure with a death in it. But there is more lost paradise in them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/almost-all-serious-stories-in-the-world-are-stories-of-failure-with-a/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [In the history of humanity there are no civilizations or cultures which fail to manifest, in one or a thousand ways, this need for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eug-ne-ionesco/in-the-history-of-humanity-there-are-no-civilizations-or-cultures/) [Eugene Ionesco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eug-ne-ionesco/) > [“My memories, with images by Botticelli and harmonies by Mozart, of returning from a far away place, of the time when my tears were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/my-memories-with-images-by-botticelli-and-harmonies-by-mozart-of/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [Travel is seeking the lost paradise. It is the supreme illusion of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/travel-is-seeking-the-lost-paradise-it-is-the-supreme-illusion-of-love/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [The Revolutionary's Utopia, which in appearance represents a complete break with the past, is always modeled on some image of the Lost Paradise, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-revolutionary-s-utopia-which-in-appearance-represents-a-complete/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [“one thing that I realized early on in thinking about this book, when I found, to my consternation, that I was writing a fantasy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/one-thing-that-i-realized-early-on-in-thinking-about-this-book-when-i/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“If you have seen in silent prayer How the soul of the earth fashions crystals, If you have seen the flame in the growing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manfred-kyber/if-you-have-seen-in-silent-prayer-how-the-soul-of-the-earth-fashions/) Manfred Kyber > [Any love is a home-sickness, a longing for a lost paradise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-klein/any-love-is-a-home-sickness-a-longing-for-a-lost-paradise/) [Jean Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-klein/) > [“The tragedy of my species xxx is that it does not live in its own time. Homo sapiens is locked on history's rearview mirror,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-morrow/the-tragedy-of-my-species-xxx-is-that-it-does-not-live-in-its-own/) [James K. Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-morrow/) > [“In childhood, you long to grow up fast because older people are more powerful, young men more powerful. A child just longs to grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/in-childhood-you-long-to-grow-up-fast-because-older-people-are-more/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) ## More by Frithjof Schuon > [Spiritual realization is theoretically the easiest thing and in practice the most difficult thing there is. It is the easiest because it is enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/spiritual-realization-is-theoretically-the-easiest-thing-and-in/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [It is impossible to describe a landscape so validly as to exclude all other descriptions, for no one can see the landscape in all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/it-is-impossible-to-describe-a-landscape-so-validly-as-to-exclude-all/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [“Trials there must be upon this earth. We are made of a stuff that easily corrupts when nothing calls to order, when a sign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/trials-there-must-be-upon-this-earth-we-are-made-of-a-stuff-that/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [“The esoteric finds the Absolute within the traditions, as poets find poetry within the poems.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/the-esoteric-finds-the-absolute-within-the-traditions-as-poets-find/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [“Christ re-enacts in the outward historical world what is being enacted at all times in the inner world of the soul. In man the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/christ-re-enacts-in-the-outward-historical-world-what-is-being/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [The truth is, however, that every religion form is superior to the others in a particular respect, and it is this characteristic that in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/the-truth-is-however-that-every-religion-form-is-superior-to-the/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [When people want to be rid of Heaven it is logical to start by creating an atmosphere in which spiritual things appear out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/when-people-want-to-be-rid-of-heaven-it-is-logical-to-start-by/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [ “\[...\] Tradition is not a childish and outmoded mythology but a science that is terribly real. (...la tradition n'est pas une mythologie puérile et… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/tradition-is-not-a-childish-and-outmoded-mythology-but-a-science-that/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [The manifestation of Truth is a mystery of Love, just as, conversely, the content of Love is a mystery of Truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/the-manifestation-of-truth-is-a-mystery-of-love-just-as-conversely/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [Ungrateful are those on this earthly road, Who do complain that life is made of tears, That happiness on earth one cannot find, That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/ungrateful-are-those-on-this-earthly-road-who-do-complain-that-life/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [“The differences between religions are reflected very clearly in the different forms of sacred art: compared with Gothic art, above all in its “flamboyant”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/the-differences-between-religions-are-reflected-very-clearly-in-the/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [...blessed be the heart who finds its way to the eternal summer. \[...to the realisation of eternal gratitude that things aren't worse, because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/blessed-be-the-heart-who-finds-its-way-to-the-eternal-summer-to-the/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [“In order to discredit faith and seduce believers, Kant does not hesitate to appeal to pride or vanity: whoever does not rely on reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/in-order-to-discredit-faith-and-seduce-believers-kant-does-not/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [“In our day everyone wants to appear intelligent, one would prefer to be accused of crime than of naiveté if the accompanying risks could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/in-our-day-everyone-wants-to-appear-intelligent-one-would-prefer-to/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) > [We live in an age of confusion and thirst in which the advantages of communication are greater than those of secrecy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/we-live-in-an-age-of-confusion-and-thirst-in-which-the-advantages-of/) [Frithjof Schuon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) [Explore all 21 Frithjof Schuon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) [Browse all 4,084 Civilization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A civilization is integral and healthy to the extent [that] it is founded on the \"invisible\" or \"underlying\" religion, the religio perennis, that is, to the extent [that] its expressions or forms are transparent to the Non-Formal and tend toward the Origin, thus conveying the recollection of a lost Paradise, but also - and with all the more reason - the presentiment of a timeless Beatitude. For the Origin is at once within us and before us; time is but a spiral movement around a motionless Center.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frithjof Schuon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/a-civilization-is-integral-and-healthy-to-the-extent-that-it-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civilization" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/a-civilization-is-integral-and-healthy-to-the-extent-that-it-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/467/frithjof-schuon-23613_civilization_a-civilization-is-integral-and-healthy-t_2868643.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/467/frithjof-schuon-23613_civilization_a-civilization-is-integral-and-healthy-t_2868643.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/467/frithjof-schuon-23613_civilization_a-civilization-is-integral-and-healthy-t_2868643.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A civilization is integral and healthy to the extent [that] it is founded on the \"invisible\" or \"underlying\"…” — Frithjof Schuon", "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": "Frithjof Schuon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frithjof-schuon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“A civilization is integral and healthy...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/a-civilization-is-integral-and-healthy-to-the-extent-that-it-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frithjof-schuon/a-civilization-is-integral-and-healthy-to-the-extent-that-it-is/#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 } } ] } ```