--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most every old civilizations looks at…" description: "\"“Most every old civilizations looks at others--members of the same species but not of the same tribe--as wild men. It's a common rationalization, becau..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/gene-doucette-17956_quote_most-every-old-civilizations-looks-at-ot_1603684.jpg" --- # Most every old civilizations looks at others--members of… ![“Most every old civilizations looks at others--members of the same species but not of the same tribe--as wild men. It's a common rationalization, because when you reduce someone else to a level of something like an animal, it makes them easier to kill.” quote by Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/gene-doucette-17956_quote_most-every-old-civilizations-looks-at-ot_1603684.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/gene-doucette-17956_quote_most-every-old-civilizations-looks-at-ot_1603684.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/gene-doucette-17956_quote_most-every-old-civilizations-looks-at-ot_1603684.jpg) > ““Most every old civilizations looks at others--members of the same species but not of the same tribe--as wild men. It's a common rationalization, because when you reduce someone else to a level of something like an animal, it makes them easier to kill.”” [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Viewing outsiders as subhuman simplifies moral justification for violence. **In simple terms:** Seeing others as animals makes killing easier. Key Takeaway Recognize shared humanity to curb aggression. Themes ethics conflict dehumanization Mood reflective serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - war - colonialism - racism - political rhetoric Key Concepts moral psychology in-group bias violence Questions to Reflect On - How does labeling others affect our actions? - What steps can reduce dehumanizing language? A Different Perspective Dehumanization can be challenged by empathy and education. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilizations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilizations/) ## Related quotes > [India and Vietnam are old civilizations. We have ancient cultural and spiritual connections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-nath-kovind/india-and-vietnam-are-old-civilizations-we-have-ancient-cultural-and/) [Ram Nath Kovind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-nath-kovind/) > [“Everything we know and believe about deity and divinity nowadays, is a direct origin of old civilizations. Everybody, Greeks, Saxons, Assyrians and Soumerians, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christos-rodoulla-tsiailis/everything-we-know-and-believe-about-deity-and-divinity-nowadays-is-a/) Christos Rodoulla Tsiailis > [“The old civilizations claimed that they were founded on love or justice. Ours is founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-old-civilizations-claimed-that-they-were-founded-on-love-or-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The old civilizations claimed that they were founded on love or justice. Ours is founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-old-civilizations-claimed-that-they-were-founded-on-love-or/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [If we're thinking about old civilizations, those that formed a long time ago and there were stars and planets around long before Earth even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-davies/if-we-re-thinking-about-old-civilizations-those-that-formed-a-long/) [Paul Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-davies/) > [Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/wild-men-who-caught-and-sang-the-sun-in-flight-and-learn-too-late/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Wild men are so enormously attractive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-brand/wild-men-are-so-enormously-attractive/) [Jo Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-brand/) > [“Give me for my friends and neighbors wild men, not tame ones. 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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 Gene Doucette > [“Religion is still the very best way to get someone to accept something unabashedly ridiculous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/religion-is-still-the-very-best-way-to-get-someone-to-accept/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [ “\[T\]here may be no more depressing place on the planet than the floor of a casino.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/t-here-may-be-no-more-depressing-place-on-the-planet-than-the-floor/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [“(A note: succubi are notorious amateur psychologists and have been since well before Freud. In fact I have it on good authority that Freud…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/a-note-succubi-are-notorious-amateur-psychologists-and-have-been/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [“Are you trying to talk me out of going?” “I am trying to figure out who you really are.” “Same man I was last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/are-you-trying-to-talk-me-out-of-going-i-am-trying-to-figure-out-who/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [“Like most remarkable things, nobody realized it was remarkable as it happened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/like-most-remarkable-things-nobody-realized-it-was-remarkable-as-it/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [“So, you'd rather just regurgitate what these books tell you than know what really happened?" "Exactly." "No quest for truth? Where's your spirit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/so-you-d-rather-just-regurgitate-what-these-books-tell-you-than-know/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [“We just met and we're already doing heroin?" I said. "Seems sudden.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/we-just-met-and-we-re-already-doing-heroin-i-said-seems-sudden/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [“(Very few vampires bother to sleep in a coffin, if you must know. Lugging one around everywhere you go is inconvenient, and it almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/very-few-vampires-bother-to-sleep-in-a-coffin-if-you-must-know/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [“I was suicidal for two solid centuries once. That was during the early part of what they now call the Dark Ages, in medieval…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/i-was-suicidal-for-two-solid-centuries-once-that-was-during-the-early/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [“New York is the one place in the world that actively encourages rudeness, because that's the only way to get past the fake bag…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/new-york-is-the-one-place-in-the-world-that-actively-encourages/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [“The dragon roared. Terrible sound, that. Made my testicles shrink.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/the-dragon-roared-terrible-sound-that-made-my-testicles-shrink/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [“So, what do I call you?" I asked. "Whomp." "Whomp? Your given name?" "It's the sound people make when I hit them in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/so-what-do-i-call-you-i-asked-whomp-whomp-your-given-name-it-s-the/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [“...while there may have been gods, they weren't particularly well defined. If, for instance, something unusually lucky happened, one might declare that a god--pick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/while-there-may-have-been-gods-they-weren-t-particularly-well-defined/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [“(As a side note: I thought money was a bad idea way back when it was first invented. I remember the moment very clearly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/as-a-side-note-i-thought-money-was-a-bad-idea-way-back-when-it-was/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) > [ “\[K\]nowing one's fate never made a whit of difference, except it made the fated a tad more anxious.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-doucette/k-nowing-one-s-fate-never-made-a-whit-of-difference-except-it-made/) [Gene Doucette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) [Explore all 36 Gene Doucette quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-doucette/) ## More Civilizations quotes > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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 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/) > [“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 > [“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/) > [I do not believe that civilizations have to die because civilization is not an organism. It is a product of wills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-j-toynbee/i-do-not-believe-that-civilizations-have-to-die-because-civilization/) [Arnold J. Toynbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-j-toynbee/) > [In the long run, the aggressive civilizations destroy themselves, almost always. It's their nature. They can't help it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-the-long-run-the-aggressive-civilizations-destroy-themselves/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [I am the son of two civilizations that at a certain age in history have formed a happy marriage. The first of these, seven…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naguib-mahfouz/i-am-the-son-of-two-civilizations-that-at-a-certain-age-in-history/) [Naguib Mahfouz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naguib-mahfouz/) > [“Their history wasn’t so far off the mean track, they were going through what a thousand other civilizations had gone through, and no doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/their-history-wasn-t-so-far-off-the-mean-track-they-were-going/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [Technological civilizations don't last long. You're all right until you get a printing press. Then a race starts between technology and common sense. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-mcdevitt/technological-civilizations-don-t-last-long-you-re-all-right-until/) [Jack McDevitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-mcdevitt/) [Browse all 164 Civilizations quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilizations/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Most every old civilizations looks at others--members of the same species but not of the same tribe--as wild men. 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