--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm a student of history and know that…" description: "\"I'm a student of history and know that civilizations get lost - they are born and die - and so I recognize the tender mortality of our civilization. I'..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3a/gangaji-10997_civilization_i-m-a-student-of-history-and-know-that-c_781208.jpg" --- # I'm a student of history and know that civilizations get… ![“I'm a student of history and know that civilizations get lost - they are born and die - and so I recognize the tender mortality of our civilization. I'm not saying I'm separate from the despair of that, but I'm not controlled by the despair of that.” quote by Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3a/gangaji-10997_civilization_i-m-a-student-of-history-and-know-that-c_781208.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3a/gangaji-10997_civilization_i-m-a-student-of-history-and-know-that-c_781208.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3a/gangaji-10997_civilization_i-m-a-student-of-history-and-know-that-c_781208.jpg) > “I'm a student of history and know that civilizations get lost - they are born and die - and so I recognize the tender mortality of our civilization. I'm not saying I'm separate from the despair of that, but I'm not controlled by the despair of that.” [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Civilizations rise and fall, yet we can acknowledge their impermanence without being overwhelmed by despair. **In simple terms:** History repeats, but we can stay hopeful. Key Takeaway Recognize impermanence, maintain agency. Themes history impermanence resilience Mood contemplative steady Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - education - community building - mental health Key Concepts civilization cycles spiritual awareness psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance awareness of decline with constructive action? - What personal practices sustain hope? A Different Perspective It may ignore systemic factors causing collapse. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Civilizations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilizations/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Mortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortality/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) ## Related quotes > [“I know only that civilizations seem to be like people. They are born, they grow to maturity, then they age and lose their vitality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-l-amour/i-know-only-that-civilizations-seem-to-be-like-people-they-are-born/) [Louis L'Amour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-l-amour/) > [Now, more than ever, we need people in space... The events of September 11 show us how vulnerable we and our civilization are down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-levinson/now-more-than-ever-we-need-people-in-space-the-events-of-september-11/) [Paul Levinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-levinson/) > [I don't mean to say that you shouldn't take care of your body, or want to keep it from dying. But it doesn't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/i-don-t-mean-to-say-that-you-shouldn-t-take-care-of-your-body-or-want/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [“The fundamental fact about all of us is that we’re alive for a while but will die before long. This fact is the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/the-fundamental-fact-about-all-of-us-is-that-we-re-alive-for-a-while/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [There is not love of life without despair about life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/there-is-not-love-of-life-without-despair-about-life/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“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 Gangaji > [But somehow in identifying myself as the healer, there was still a seed of both self-righteousness and defense from a kind of emptiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/but-somehow-in-identifying-myself-as-the-healer-there-was-still-a/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [Fulfillment has nothing to do with circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/fulfillment-has-nothing-to-do-with-circumstances/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [I support people if they are called to be active and protesting, resisting, working for restoration or, for more just political conversation. I also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/i-support-people-if-they-are-called-to-be-active-and-protesting/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [I don't mean to say that you shouldn't take care of your body, or want to keep it from dying. But it doesn't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/i-don-t-mean-to-say-that-you-shouldn-t-take-care-of-your-body-or-want/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [When all mental activity around who you think you are or what you need for happiness is stopped, there is a crack in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/when-all-mental-activity-around-who-you-think-you-are-or-what-you/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [If you will stop all searching right now and tell the truth to yourself, you will know what is known in the core of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/if-you-will-stop-all-searching-right-now-and-tell-the-truth-to/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [Recognize, you ARE Home. Not, you are 'at home'... you ARE Home. Not, you have 'come home'... you ARE Home. You are that which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/recognize-you-are-home-not-you-are-at-home-you-are-home-not-you-have/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [If you are willing to experience anything directly and immediately, whether good or bad, joyous or hateful, you will recognize that what you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/if-you-are-willing-to-experience-anything-directly-and-immediately/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [“We have tried everything to get rid of suffering. We have gone everywhere to get rid of suffering. We have bought everything to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/we-have-tried-everything-to-get-rid-of-suffering-we-have-gone/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [Be still. it takes no effort to be still; it is utterly simple. When your mind is still, you have no name, you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/be-still-it-takes-no-effort-to-be-still-it-is-utterly-simple-when/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [Under the obsessive thoughts and plans, under the emotions, positive and negative, there is an ocean of peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/under-the-obsessive-thoughts-and-plans-under-the-emotions-positive/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [What ever we embrace eventually reveals the place we have been seeking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/what-ever-we-embrace-eventually-reveals-the-place-we-have-been-seeking/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [You have the freedom, ability and authority to love your life. Just be you, then wait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/you-have-the-freedom-ability-and-authority-to-love-your-life-just-be/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [If you're laughing, you're healing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/if-you-re-laughing-you-re-healing/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) > [You cannot truly express yourself until you first discover who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gangaji/you-cannot-truly-express-yourself-until-you-first-discover-who-you-are/) [Gangaji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) [Explore all 62 Gangaji quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gangaji/) ## 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": "I'm a student of history and know that civilizations get lost - they are born and die - and so I recognize the tender mortality of our civilization. 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