--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Civilization had long maintained the…" description: "\"“Civilization had long maintained the appearance of such communal closeness, in small units people could manage. Societies had evolved that could stack..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/gardner-r-dozois-52645_quote_civilization-had-long-maintained-the-app_993953.jpg" --- # Civilization had long maintained the appearance of such… ![“Civilization had long maintained the appearance of such communal closeness, in small units people could manage. Societies had evolved that could stack such social nuggets into vaster larger arrays. A squad of ten worked well together, and united with ten other squads could do far more. Those ten…” quote by Gardner R. Dozois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/gardner-r-dozois-52645_quote_civilization-had-long-maintained-the-app_993953.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/gardner-r-dozois-52645_quote_civilization-had-long-maintained-the-app_993953.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/gardner-r-dozois-52645_quote_civilization-had-long-maintained-the-app_993953.jpg) > ““Civilization had long maintained the appearance of such communal closeness, in small units people could manage. Societies had evolved that could stack such social nuggets into vaster larger arrays. A squad of ten worked well together, and united with ten other squads could do far more. Those ten who commanded squads could then meet in a room and make up a squad themselves, and so on up a pyramid that could sum the labours of billions. All”” [Gardner R. Dozois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gardner-r-dozois/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human societies scale by grouping individuals into increasingly larger cooperative units. **In simple terms:** Cooperation builds larger societies. Key Takeaway Leverage small groups to create big impact. Themes cooperation scalability social organization Mood analytical critical Type theoretical observational When to use this quote - business scaling - community building - military organization Key Concepts network theory hierarchical structures Questions to Reflect On - How can small teams stay agile within large structures? - What limits arise when scaling cooperation? A Different Perspective Large hierarchies can become rigid and slow. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ## Related quotes > [“There is nothing comparable when to comes to the black man. He has no culture, no civilization, and no long historical past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-faron/there-is-nothing-comparable-when-to-comes-to-the-black-man-he-has-no/) Frantz Faron > [Who are we? Where do we come from? Why are we this way and not some other? What does it mean to be human?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/who-are-we-where-do-we-come-from-why-are-we-this-way-and-not-some/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The coarsening of our culture towards violent death has more consequences than war. 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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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) ## More by Gardner R. Dozois > [“We primates reacted to threat with anger, so we got into fights without knowing why. Dawn”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gardner-r-dozois/we-primates-reacted-to-threat-with-anger-so-we-got-into-fights/) [Gardner R. Dozois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gardner-r-dozois/) > [“Naturals felt best in groups of a hundred or so, and even better if only a few dozen were involved. Hunting parties had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gardner-r-dozois/naturals-felt-best-in-groups-of-a-hundred-or-so-and-even-better-if/) [Gardner R. Dozois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gardner-r-dozois/) > [“She suspected that civilization had been invented to make more stories. And”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gardner-r-dozois/she-suspected-that-civilization-had-been-invented-to-make-more/) [Gardner R. Dozois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gardner-r-dozois/) > [“I know what’s wrong with me; and knowing your own flaws is the beginning of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gardner-r-dozois/i-know-what-s-wrong-with-me-and-knowing-your-own-flaws-is-the/) [Gardner R. Dozois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gardner-r-dozois/) > [“All this was built on the firm foundation of primate bonding patterns. If the pattern broke down at the bottom, it gave a rabble.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gardner-r-dozois/all-this-was-built-on-the-firm-foundation-of-primate-bonding-patterns/) [Gardner R. Dozois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gardner-r-dozois/) > [“To disdain the moral pronouncements of hypocrites; to be true to my word; to always do what I promise, no more and no less.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gardner-r-dozois/to-disdain-the-moral-pronouncements-of-hypocrites-to-be-true-to-my/) [Gardner R. Dozois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gardner-r-dozois/) [Explore all 7 Gardner R. Dozois quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gardner-r-dozois/) ## 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": "“Civilization had long maintained the appearance of such communal closeness, in small units people could manage. Societies had evolved that could stack such social nuggets into vaster larger arrays. A squad of ten worked well together, and united with ten other squads could do far more. Those ten who commanded squads could then meet in a room and make up a squad themselves, and so on up a pyramid that could sum the labours of billions. All”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gardner R. 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