--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ye poor posterity, think not that ye are…" description: "\"Ye poor posterity, think not that ye are the first. Other fools before ye have seen the sun rise and set, and the moon change her shape and her hour. A..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc6/george-bernard-shaw-68_body_ye-poor-posterity-think-not-that-ye-are_1374103.png" --- # Ye poor posterity, think not that ye are the first. Other… ![“Ye poor posterity, think not that ye are the first. Other fools before ye have seen the sun rise and set, and the moon change her shape and her hour. As they were so ye are; and yet not so great; for the pyramids my people built stand to this day; whilst the dustheaps on which ye slave, and which…” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc6/george-bernard-shaw-68_body_ye-poor-posterity-think-not-that-ye-are_1374103.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc6/george-bernard-shaw-68_body_ye-poor-posterity-think-not-that-ye-are_1374103.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc6/george-bernard-shaw-68_body_ye-poor-posterity-think-not-that-ye-are_1374103.png) > “Ye poor posterity, think not that ye are the first. Other fools before ye have seen the sun rise and set, and the moon change her shape and her hour. As they were so ye are; and yet not so great; for the pyramids my people built stand to this day; whilst the dustheaps on which ye slave, and which ye call empires, scatter in the wind even as ye pile your dead sons' bodies on them to make yet more dust.” [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human history repeats cycles of rise and fall; current empires will crumble like those before. **In simple terms:** Empires rise and fall repeatedly. Key Takeaway Recognize impermanence of power. Themes history humility impermanence legacy pride Mood reflective somber Type philosophical historical When to use this quote - political leadership - urban planning - environmental policy - personal ambition - cultural heritage Key Concepts civilization cycles hubris legacy building Questions to Reflect On - What lasting impact will you leave? - How do you confront the fleeting nature of success? A Different Perspective Even great monuments cannot stop time’s erosion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built/) [Dust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust/) [Empires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empires/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) [Fools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fools/) [Fools Ye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fools-ye-4740306/) [Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Poor Posterity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-posterity-4740308/) [Posterity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/posterity/) [Posterity Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/posterity-think-1959936/) [Pyramids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pyramids/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/son/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) [Sun rise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun-rise/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [This day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/this-day/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/) [Ye Fools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ye-fools-4740310/) ## Related quotes > [Happiness is not fame or riches or heroic virtues, but a state that will inspire posterity to think in reflecting upon our life, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herodotus/happiness-is-not-fame-or-riches-or-heroic-virtues-but-a-state-that/) [Herodotus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herodotus/) > [The more ignorant men are, the more convinced are they that their little parish and their little chapel is an apex to which civilization…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-more-ignorant-men-are-the-more-convinced-are-they-that-their/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [If the lesser mind could measure the greater as a foot-rule can measure a pyramid, there would be finality in universal suffrage. 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Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [A man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. 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