--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She always says that americans can…" description: "\"“She always says that americans can understand spaniards. That they are the only two western nations that can realize abstraction. That in americans it..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47e/gertrude-stein-667_books_she-always-says-that-americans-can-under_1582105.jpg" --- # She always says that americans can understand spaniards… ![“She always says that americans can understand spaniards. That they are the only two western nations that can realize abstraction. That in americans it expresses itself b disembodiedness, in literature and machinery, in Spain by ritual so abstract that it does not connect itself with anything but…” quote by Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47e/gertrude-stein-667_books_she-always-says-that-americans-can-under_1582105.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47e/gertrude-stein-667_books_she-always-says-that-americans-can-under_1582105.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47e/gertrude-stein-667_books_she-always-says-that-americans-can-under_1582105.jpg) > ““She always says that americans can understand spaniards. That they are the only two western nations that can realize abstraction. That in americans it expresses itself b disembodiedness, in literature and machinery, in Spain by ritual so abstract that it does not connect itself with anything but ritual.”” [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stein suggests that Americans and Spaniards uniquely grasp abstract ideas, expressing them through disembodied concepts in art, technology, and ritual. **In simple terms:** Americans and Spaniards excel at abstract thought. Key Takeaway Recognize cultural strengths. Themes culture abstraction creativity Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - literary analysis - cross‑cultural studies - creative design Key Concepts national identity artistic expression Questions to Reflect On - What other cultures value abstraction? - How does this view affect cultural dialogue? A Different Perspective Broad generalizations may overlook diversity within each nation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction Americans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction-americans-5978061/) [Americans Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans-understand-278533/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Says Americans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/says-americans-4018109/) [Spaniards Western](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spaniards-western-5978063/) [Understand Spaniards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-spaniards-5978062/) ## Related quotes > [The bill that job creators and out-of-work Americans need us to pass is the one that ensures taxes won't go up - one that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-mcconnell/the-bill-that-job-creators-and-out-of-work-americans-need-us-to-pass/) [Mitch McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-mcconnell/) > [Our people do not want barren theories from their democracy. 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The words ‘to make money’ hold the essence of human morality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/americans-were-the-first-to-understand-that-wealth-has-to-be-created/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [We must reject the cynicism that says allowing every eligible vote to be cast and counted is a 'power grab.' Americans understand that these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-abrams/we-must-reject-the-cynicism-that-says-allowing-every-eligible-vote-to/) [Stacey Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-abrams/) > [ \[Americans\] can't understand that the water in our toilet is cleaner than 880 million have access to. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-damon/americans-can-t-understand-that-the-water-in-our-toilet-is-cleaner/) [Matt Damon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-damon/) > [Southerners, whose ancestors a hundred years ago knew the horrors of a homeland devastated by war, are particularly determined that war shall never come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/southerners-whose-ancestors-a-hundred-years-ago-knew-the-horrors-of-a/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-americans-understand-the-costs-of-war-yet-as-a-country-we-will/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) ## More by Gertrude Stein > [I certainly do care for you Jeff Campbell less than you are always thinking and much more than you are ever knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-certainly-do-care-for-you-jeff-campbell-less-than-you-are-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Americans are very friendly and very suspicious, that is what Americans are and that is what always upsets the foreigner, who deals with them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/americans-are-very-friendly-and-very-suspicious-that-is-what/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“When is there some discharge when. There never is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/when-is-there-some-discharge-when-there-never-is/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [There is no such thing as repetition. 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I understand why the French prefer it to automobiling it is so much more sociable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/more-and-more-i-like-to-take-a-train-i-understand-why-the-french/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Adventure is making the distant approach nearer but romance is having what is where it is which is not where you are stay where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/adventure-is-making-the-distant-approach-nearer-but-romance-is-having/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Forensics is eloquence and reduction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/forensics-is-eloquence-and-reduction/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Eating and sleeping are not like loving and breathing. Washing is not like eating and sleeping. Believing is like breathing and loving. 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There is no such animal, it is always individualism, sometimes the rest vote and sometimes they do not, and if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-don-t-envisage-collectivism-there-is-no-such-animal-it-is-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) [Explore all 418 Gertrude Stein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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